Mutual Shock is the darkwave project of Seattle-based musician Dan Powers. Drawing on post-punk, synthpop, synthwave, and industrial electronic music, Mutual Shock melds analog synths and drum machines with dreamy, melancholic hooks.&nbsp;2026 marks the release of his third record, the EP Tools of Western Aggression, which further explores these stylistic influences in a series of political and social critiques.&nbsp;Says <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://Post-Punk.com">Post-Punk.com</a> of the new record, "Analogue synths snip and glower around it, cool wave surfaces bruised by industrial pressure, while Max Zara Bernstein’s drums give the song a lean, physical snap. You can hear the family resemblance to Black Marble and Molchat Doma in the gray romantic machinery, and the NIN and Cabaret Voltaire influence in the way pleasure gets filed down into menace."With support from Seattle's Fotoform (melodic post-punk) and Mechanical Plague (dreamy electronic/shoegaze)