It only takes YHWH Nailgun 21 minutes to rip up everything you thought you knew about rock music. That’s the runtime for 45 Pounds, their debut album, which came out last year on cult London label AD93 (also home to the likes of James K and Moin).

An intricate splatter of lacerated vocals, clattering percussion, and indecipherable synth/guitar interplay, the New York via Philadelphia quartet started as a lockdown project for drummer Sam Pickard and vocalist Zack Borzone. That makes sense when you see them live, guitarist Saguiv Rosenstock and synth player Jack Tobias cut focussed, laidback figures on the sides of the stage, away from the maelstrom being cooked up centre stage by their electric frontman and powerhouse drummer.

They often sound like a band fighting against - but not amongst - themselves, straining to escape the confines of their own songs and instruments, a kind of musical contortionism. In that sense they’re successors to the likes of Cabaret Voltaire and This Heat, Battles and Gang Gang Dance, groups who seek to challenge preconceived notions of what a ‘live’ band can be.

That capacity for imagination - plus the sheer intensity of their shows - makes them a perfect addition to Sónar this year.