Rotterdam squat-punks Bombstrap channel gentrification anger on debut album
Rotterdam band Bombstrap make abrasive, theatrical punk rooted in the city’s squatted community, with singer Eva Kah at the centre of their confrontational live performances. Their debut album, *Big Enemy*, channels anger at gentrification and rejects conventional career ambitions, giving the group a distinctive place in the city’s communal punk scene.
The band’s sound combines raw, high-volume guitars and chopped-up rhythms, with influences and connections reaching into Manchester’s punk and squat scenes and the extended Gnod circle. The article also highlights seven other new tracks, spanning vocal house, breakbeat, jazz, techno-pop, shoegaze and dream pop.
In short
- Rotterdam’s Bombstrap pair confrontational punk with theatrical performance.
- Their debut album *Big Enemy* is out now.
- The weekly picks also feature seven tracks across varied genres.
Explained simply
Gentrification is the process by which an area changes as investment and higher-income residents move in, often raising rents and putting pressure on people and businesses already there. Rotterdam has a communal punk scene linked to squatted spaces, where people live or organise without the usual property arrangements.
Bombstrap are part of that scene, making loud, theatrical punk led by singer Eva Kah. Their music draws on connections with punk and squat communities in Manchester and the wider circle around the band Gnod.
Their debut album addresses the effects of neighbourhood change and questions the usual emphasis on building a career. The story also places the band among a broader range of new music, from house and breakbeat to shoegaze and dream pop.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “The week’s best new tracks and the act you need to know: Dutch squat-punks Bombstrap’s uncompromising racket”.