Overload (Uk) [CD]

Madmadmad's EP "Overload" is a thrillingly chaotic, genre-warping ride -think Mr Oizo on acid- that fuses fuzzy basslines, jagged guitars, and analog synth delirium into a dancefloor-ready collage of sound. From the Kraftwerk-tinged pulse of "Overload" to the acid-soaked, breakneck energy of "The Way" channeling The Chemical Brothers or Gesaffelstein, the record constantly shape-shifts while maintaining a raw, propulsive core. Tracks like "Mezcal" drift into hypnotic, minimal grooves reminiscent of Aphex Twin, while "Tout le Monde" and "Turn It Up" inject playful, off-kilter funk inspired by Tom Zé, Prince, ESG, and Beck. The title track closes on a high with a gritty, disco-infused groove nodding to early Daft Punk. Across the EP, Madmadmad embrace disorientation as an artistic statement, drawing inspiration from Dadaism to mirror the overwhelming, information-saturated chaos of modern life. Listening to Madmadmad can be delightfully disorienting, and that quality extends to the band's collagist, CRT-infused and homemade visual art that accompanies their music. "History goes in cycles, and we feel there's a correlation with what happened a century ago, when everything was so chaotic and people had a hard time making sense of what was going on in the world," Benji explains while describing how the band takes cues from the 20th century's Dadaist movement. "It feels like we're at that moment again-where it's quite hard to make sense of everything with so much information every day. There was quite a lot of confusion back then after the first world war and a global pandemic, and the response of the arts was to reflect the nonsensical place the world was at. We feel heavily influenced by that.