Lip Critic

Brooklyn's Lip Critic make electropunk with an unusual lineup: two drummers sit alongside samplers and vocals, so the rhythms hit hard while the electronics keep things jittery and strange. The name, which the group chose because it sounded like deliberately absurd wordplay, suits a band that treats noise and collage as serious tools. Signed to Partisan Records, they have built their reputation on that tension between brute physicality and manufactured texture.

The group began playing together in 2018 and put out two EPs, Kill Lip Critic in 2019 and Lip Critic II in 2020, before releasing their debut album Hex Dealer in 2024, which was greeted with critical acclaim. Their follow-up started life as a record but was abandoned after the band's dealings with a fan who had stolen the identity of vocalist Bret Kaser and became convinced the group was sending him secret messages. That episode became the basis of their second album, Theft World, released in 2026. To promote it they played a laundromat, a basement and a boxing ring, choosing unconventional rooms over standard venues. Drummer Michael Sandvig joined in 2024, succeeding Ilan Natter.