This "Nintendocore" Band Is All About Nostalgia

The Little Mermaid classic “Under the Sea” constitutes a core memory for many people of a certain age. Even now, at the mention of it, you can probably immediately hum along to the upbeat Disney tune sung by Sebastian the crab in the 1989 animated movie.

But you’ve never heard a rendition as hardcore as Powerglove’s 2018 cover.

“Because of how cheesy and happy it is, we naturally went the polar opposite and made it one of the most brutal, fastest and heaviest songs that we did,” drummer Bassil Silver says. “It’s slightly tongue-in-cheek, but also that sort of lent itself to an interesting inverse way to do that.”

Featuring DragonForce vocalist Marc Hudson, Powerglove's “Under the Sea” is an amped-up nostalgia dump for the fans who grew up with the film and still want to rock out to the more mature-sounding version.

That’s what Powerglove does. The Boston-based metal band has made a name for itself by covering old-school cartoon and video game theme songs, most notably the Tetris and Power Rangers tunes. The moniker is a reference to the Nintendo Power Glove accessory, after all, while the music’s been dubbed “Nintendocore.”

The group’s latest album, Flawless Victory (2022), digs deeper into millennial culture with covers of 1992 FernGully: The Last Rainforest song “Toxic Love,” originally performed by Tim Curry, and “In the Dark of Night” from 1997’s Anastasia.

“It all comes from things that we’re nostalgic about, things we grew up with and heard a thousand times and grew to love because of their associations with the different games or shows we played or watched when we were kids,” Silver explains.
“If we’re playing a game or thinking back to something we saw as kids and hear a song we get stoked about, we just start laying down guitar riffs.”

Silver and guitarist Gabriel Guardian, also of power-metal band Immortal Guardian, are taking a break in the studio to chat about Powerglove and its latest vision — an all-anime album.

“We’re taking a little bit of a departure from the standard video games, but in the same vein as Saturday Morning Apocalypse (2010), but on this one we’re going into the anime world,” Silver says, adding the idea struck after the band played an anime festival in the United Arab Emirates.

“On the 400-hour flight back home, we started diving into a lot of the anime songs that we knew as kids and a lot of the newer ones,” he continues. “That kind of excitement is usually what fuels our decision-making.”

No details have been publicly announced about any upcoming material, but it’s safe to say Powerglove will deliver. I mean, they’ve already souped-up “Gotta Catch ’em All.”

“At this point, I almost feel like a chef tasting an ingredient, like, ‘Oh, I know where to put that. Or that’s not going to work,’” Guardian explains. “I hear a video game or old-school cartoon song and I’m just like, ‘How have we not done this one yet?’ Whether it’s the melody or chord structure or the beat, there’s something that sticks out to you.”

While we wait for new Powerglove, you can see the group live at the second Mile High Power Fest on Saturday, August 16, at the Oriental Theater. Glyph, Owlbear, Empress, Greyhawk, Celestial Wizard, Oak, Ash & Thorn, Viperwitch, and Signs of Tranquility are also on the bill.

Powerglove is also hosting a costume contest, so come dressed in your cosplay best. And, of course, be ready to have a hell of a time. The “maximalist” show includes over-the-top visuals and a twelve-foot inflatable Power Glove.

“We take the responsibility upon ourselves to give people what they want or see in their head when they imagine going out to see a video-game metal act. A lot of that is curating that nostalgia, naturally,” Silver says. “Usually, a feeling of excitement is the main thing you get when you hear a song that you heard 20,000 times when you were grinding against a boss you couldn’t beat.”

Pretty much every nerd can relate to that.

“I think what’s really exciting about a Powerglove show is seeing the child come out of every adult in the room,” Guardian concludes. “We start the song then that nostalgia hits home for everybody is some of the most exciting parts and everybody turns into a kid again.”

Mile High Power Fest, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, August 16, Oriental Theater, 4335 West 44th Ave. Tickets are $57.