Alongside Einstürzende Neubauten, Xmal Deutschland, Die Tödliche Doris and Abwärts, Malaria!, a glorious all female combo based in Berlin, was undoubtedly one of the best representatives of what I call 'krautrock 2.0' , that is , the wave of Teutonic bands from the first half of the 80s that paid close attention to the lessons of the best representatives of the previous generation, people like Neu!, Faust, Kraftwerk, Harmonia, Can, Cluster, then mixed the thing with the scorching punk fury and plunged the resulting aural rubedo into that so characteristic 80's vibe of hostile, synthetic and alien coldness.
As its title already indicates, COMPILED 1981-1984 (nowadays quite a rarity, at least when it comes to the CD edition) gathers the best that the band created in its halcyon days. And the palette here ranges from minimal wave coated in austere gothic overtones (Kaltes Klares Wasser, How Do You Like My New Dog, Geh Duschen, Thrash Me) to offbeat exercises in 'short circuit electronics' (Kämpfen Und Siegen, Dabo, Geld ), somewhat comparable to the work of groups like Minimal Man, Factrix or Chrome at the same time, going through a kind of darkwave rereading of Bowie's ambient pieces in LOW (Einsam); technotribal nightmares (Tod, Mensch, Traum); a track that definitely sounds like proto-EBM (Mensch); and wonderfully elusive eccentricities (Pernod, Gewissen).
All in all, a terrific band, which deserves to be (re)discovered by all lovers of the sonic universe akin to No Wave.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETnUg-UsMD4
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