You ever feel like you’re a one-strum win-over? For sure, there is something special about slowly growing to adore a piece of music as you peel it layer by layer. However, it’s hard to shake the instant gratification you get from rare music that hooks in the first bar. Rarer still are the tracks that can do both. Here’s where Naarm-based artist KAI CULT stands proud with their techno-punk release ‘Breakbeat’.

True to its namesake, the track very smartly snares with an Amen break before diving deep into a rapid-fire fusion of shoegaze-esque punk and electronica. It’s a departure from their previous works - KAI CULT’s strength has shone in thrashing noise-punk releases like ‘Cigarette Burns’ and ‘Fix My Head’. The reasoning for the deviation in ‘Breakbeat’ is simple. KAI CULT wants the best of both worlds.

“I grew up going to DIY punk shows in South-East Asia and when I moved to Melbourne, I found myself attending punk and techno gigs, often on the same day. [...] Around the time of writing this song, I was listening to a lot of shoegaze and drum & bass, and I just said screw it, I’m going to combine both genres together!”

‘Breakbeat’ as a whole feels condensed, seemingly fuller and wider than its 2-minute 18-second playtime. Maybe it’s the balancing of the two genres - breakbeat flinging it forward as the punk drone grips, thick as honey. Neither genre fights to control the track’s direction. It’s a purely electrifying symbiosis and a credit to KAI CULT’s talent and curiosity in combining it all.

The single’s video clip is another exploration of juxtapositions, in both content and filming styles. It’s evidently filmed and cut in a modern style but the slow-mo fuzzy shots lend a Y2K-videoclip feel, whilst the visuals showcase a montage of older cars doing burnouts through wide expanses of scrubland. It’s easy to compare the video and audio of ‘Breakbeat’ to what Mad Max evokes. Though, wildly, Charlie’s Angels came to mind first. Don’t ask.