An Inevitable Breakthrough: Basht.
WRITTEN BY JACKSON MACKASEY
The 2020’s have been kind for Britpop fans all over the world. In my opinion, this is the most exciting time for music in the U.K and Ireland since Cool Britannia when Liam and Noel were running the show. With new bands like Fontaines D.C and Wunderhorse tearing up the music scene, we are seeing a sort of resurgence for British bands in mainstream media.
Basht. is another on the rise, gaining traction in the U.K and Europe; these guys seriously have what it takes to make it big. Their music blends so many different aspects of British rock, which is frequently propelled by rough guitar work and fast rhythms, combining post-punk with indie/alt-rock and maintaining those gritty melodic sensibilities that make it hard to turn off whilst listening.
The first time I heard Basht. was when their single Stockholm dropped in April 2025; coincidentally, it came on while I was shuffling an indie rock mix Spotify had made for me. From the opening moments, lead singer Jack Leavey immediately pulled me in.
Something was arresting about his voice, not just the sound, but the way he embodied the lyrics as he sang them. Leavey has a rare ability to mirror meaning with delivery, shaping his voice to reflect tension, desperation, and release in real time. That emotional alignment makes the song feel deeply personal rather than performative, compelling you to lean into the emotional core of the record. By the end of the track, it feels less like you’ve simply listened to a song and more like you’ve been let inside the headspace of its writer, fully experiencing what he’s trying to communicate.
Bitter and Twisted, their second EP, is an emotional gut punch that never veers into melodrama while taking listeners on a relentless journey through emotional honesty and genuine vulnerability. Each song tackles difficult emotions head-on, such as ego, reliance, self-doubt, and obsession, but the band does so with a remarkable maturity that reflects self-awareness rather than guilt.
While the powerful performances give the emotions weight without overpowering them, the songwriting feels purposeful and lived-in, allowing for contradiction and complexity. Because of this, Bitter and Twisted leaves a lasting impression of development, introspection, and emotional clarity gained by difficulty rather than merely asking to be felt in the present.
So far, they’re catalog is tight-knit with two stellar EP’s from 2024 and 2025, which have allowed them to play some fantastic shows across the water. The four-man band has played at notable music festivals around the U.K and is being recognized in the industry because they have opened for notable groups such as the Goo Goo Dolls and Wunderhorse.
With that being said, they just announced they are leaving Ireland and making their US debut on March 12 in Austin, Texas, at SXSW, a music and film festival for up-and-coming artists. If I were you, I would put my stock into these guys; a huge year is coming their way.
