Self Release 23 September 2025
This is awesomely energetic and right in your face. The promo blurb describes it as ferocious and, for once, the hype is right. Bringing thoughts of early Moby, Atari Teenage Riot and the Dead Kennedys, the half dozen tracks are bass-propelled electronic slammers.
Like Alec Empire’s old band, the swing is huge while the noise is monstrously gripping. Lyrics are about racism, double standards, feminism, oppression, violence and being displaced; an alien in a strange land.
GØK2 grew up in Istanbul, the son of a political activist father, before relocating to Estonia. Istanbul has been the epicentre of the struggles in Istanbul over the last few decades, riding the dichotomies of the Attaturk-created democracy and a swing to fundamentalism, making for a creative, fervid atmosphere but an uncomfortable one, unsafe for those taking sides. It’s a strange dislocation to shift from the huge city in existential turmoil to quiet little Tallinn and you hear that here. There’s no hint of Orientalism or token Eastern rhythms – this is upfront, worldwide, angry EDM. Homemade in his kitchen, this is a production made on laptops and drum machines. Happy hardcore memes cross phase with metal, rave and hip-hop in a paradoxically organic and living fusion.
This angry music is cathartic, a natural response to a world where hope and love rub shoulders with the rise of fascism, while brutal wars, fought remotely by drones, bring horror to our screens as we sit with our loved ones. What else can GØK2 do but rave, scream and dance? A 150bpm hammering rush becomes an instinctive response to the isolation creeping in as we hide that horror in our hearts while “keeping calm and carrying on”.
Fascinating, energising, a revolt in sound. Play it loud.