The week’s best new tracks and the act you need to know: Dutch squat-punks Bombstrap’s uncompromising racket

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>The Rotterdam band are a riot of sound, look and attitude led by Eva Kah, who is as much a living artwork as she is a phenomenal live performer</p><p><strong>From</strong> Rotterdam, the Netherlands <br> <strong>Recommended if you like </strong>Gnod, Discharge, Gwar<strong> <br>Up next </strong> Debut album Big Enemy out now via Tartarus, playing Le Guess Who festival</p><p>Rotterdam’s <a href="https://bombstrap-rotterdam.bandcamp.com/album/big-enemy">Bombstrap</a> are a riotous and theatrical fusion of sound, look and attitude. An embodied version of John Milton’s Pandæmonium with the amp turned up to 11, the band revel in hardcore alternative living, internet wormholes, art-school pretensions and a gungy form of hardcore. Based in and drawing succour from one of the most famous squatted centres in the city, Het Poortgebouw, Bombstrap are a noisy counterblast to the increasing and overwhelmingly witless “circuses-and-bread” gentrification of Rotterdam.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/oct/30/the-weeks-best-new-songs-dutch-squat-punks-bombstrap-rotterdam">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.