Bobbi Olvido’s back at it, but he’s taken a left turn in a ballpark he knows so well. If that ballpark, for the sake of a clunky anchor, is mid-’90s Britpop, then the detour – bear with me – is mid-throttle garage riffage. That’s an odd cocktail, for sure, but that’s what Kubra Commander’s “On the Outside” is: part “D’You Know What I Mean” by the Brothers Gallagher; part “Hey Dude” by Britpop footnotes Kula Shaker; part head-bobbing low-register riffage; but all Bobbi in ecstatic, lethargic magic.

Kubra Commander’s chief songwriter sees the new track as “a groove-based, heavy-sounding track” that pulls from a mix of indie, funk, psychedelia, a touch of industrial grit, and, as always, well-worn Anglophilia. Written with the idea of movement – not just musically, but thematically – Bobbi adds, “It’s about shifting environments, seeing things from a different angle, getting unstuck. Stepping out of your own loop, basically.”

What takes the cake, however, is the newly rediscovered immediacy with which the full-band incarnation of Kubra carries the tune through. Olvido has taken the Reznor route a few times in more recent memory, but this bombastic full-on arrangement – courtesy of guitarists Mich Pacalioga, JB Villagonzalo, and Joko Nozawa; bassist Jah Acab; synth player Jhon Dayak, drummer Tim Williams; and percs programming via Daryll Salazar – takes it up a notch from being a polite return to form.

For Bobbi, the real knife fight was in the mix – “layers upon layers of tracks, especially the guitars,” all wrangled just enough to leave “space and breathing room for the track.” He’s long been obsessed with the arpeggiated pulse of industrial music, so of course, some of that bled in. And the spark? “The ‘Batman Beyond’ theme,” he grins, “was one of the catalysts,” the gasoline dowsed on the fire, in a manner of speaking.

I’ve never been above fanboying for Kubra—and “On the Outside” isn’t about to change that. They’re still vital churners of groove and melody, and here they prove they’re no cardboard cutouts of their past selves. There’s plenty to love in this track, and while I wouldn’t have minded chunkier overdrive and a more in-your-face drum presence woven into the already-awesome mix, I’m still awestruck by this little detour.

Do yourselves a favor: while we’re all waiting with bated breath for the band’s third full-length, take a swig of something good, grab a friend to pogo with, and blast the captivating “On the Outside” on good speakers (preferably not those tinny Bluetooth ones you won at the last office raffle).