Having only released their first single, ‘Mothers’, in 2023, Fcukers have gained international recognition at remarkable speed as one of the most exciting emerging acts in dance music. Their achievements already include supporting major indie-electronic names such as LCD Soundsystem on their 12 night NYC residency at Knockdown, Disclosure and Confidence Man on both of their respective tours and they have recently been asked to support for Harry Styles on his Brazil tour. The band have also received praise from a wide range of brands, music publications and cultural magazines. Despite this rapid rise, Fcukers have resisted suggestions that they are “carrying the torch”.
Perhaps it is true that Fcukers are more revivalist than revolutionary in their sound: they capture a vibe more than they are carving out a distinctly new shape within dance music. But it’s hard not to see them as inheritors of the New York Dance scene. The band went from playing at Brooklyn’s 200-cap Baby’s All Right in 2023 to performing to over 2000 New York partygoers in one night in what felt like an ascendence that happened in a matter of weeks. It must be said, Fcukers bring that NYC edge that surfaces every so often, and when it does it claws its way straight out the underground and into the spotlight.
In any revival of a specific sound or style, a slight tweak is necessary to give it new life, not a reinvention but a shift in texture, structure or mood that makes it feel current rather than nostalgic. That’s something Fcukers have managed to do consistently. Their sound blends breakbeat, trip-hop and lo-fi elements without sounding repetitive.
Driving basslines provide a funk-tinged pulse while Shanny Wise’s vocals, soft and seductive, render one defenceless to the sweeping urge to move your body. Each of their tracks finds its own slightly off-centre space. In their new single, ‘Beatback’, it’s that bending note in the chorus, oddly simple, almost anticlimactic by house music standards, that lingers in the ear. Fcukers are masters of understated deviation rather than overt innovation.
Having featured the track in many of their 2025 summer setlists, ‘Beatback’ is a tune that has stayed stuck in the heads of most of their fans who will be eager to get their hands on, not only, ‘Beatback ’ but Fcukers’ debut album, ‘Ö’, due for release on March 27.
Photo by Jeton Bakalli
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