[engl] Abstract Nympho is a dream-noise outfit from Berlin consisting of Rahel Preisser (Vocals/Trumpet/Noise-interventions) and Ghazi Barakat aka Pharoah Chromium (Rauschpfeif /Electric Wind Instrument). Abstract Nympho was formed spontaneously on the occasion of a Pharoah Chromium gig at the Haperende Mens festival in Rotterdam in January 2018. At first using a poem by the Berlin poet Scardanelli (who also happens to be Rahel’s father) over improvised layers of noise and psychedelia, the pair’s sound quickly evolved into unusual live interpretations of songs by Jane Birkin and Hawkwind and free form improvisations on electronics, trumpet, rauschpfeife and vocals. After playing a series of shows in small underground venues in Berlin and a legendary performance in Jean Tinguely’s Cyclop sculpture in the woods of Milly-la-Forêt they decided to shape and record their live performances into a more structured song format. The result was heard by Christian Iffland, owner of the record store Static Record and its adjacent label Static Age, who offered to release the four tracks as an EP. Using wind instruments, synths, feedbacks, an electronic tempura and the skills of Gordon W. on tablas to achieve their vision of an almost beat-free, at times dreamy, at others somber mixture of experimental pop and spoken word.

[engl] Their Demo Tape from 83 for the first time on vinyl ! FFO of Wire, The Sound, Chameleons, Post Punk, ZickZack etc. ! limited on 300 copies!

[engl] The world is in deep and dark disturbing times and Berlin’s AUS are the soundtrack to this apocalypse. This new three track EP has everything you loved from their second album from 2020 and more. It’s full of ice cold and stark future post punk gems.The drums drive the tracks with tom tom heavy rhythms next to a thunderous, melodic and locked in bass whilst the minimal synth and scatchy guitars add to the cold atmospherics. The vocals are the icing on top and move between Siouxsie and Anja from Xmal Deutschland with an added extra portion of boredom and disdain. If this was an obscure 7” from 1979 it would be on everyone’s wants list, but luckily for everyone it’s a 2024 release. ( Sean Forbes - Rough Trade )

[engl] Berlin’s Benzin brings us a blistering barrage of blazing beats and breakneck bursts of brio on Treibjagd, their debut vinyl for Static Age Musik. While Benzin rips through their songs at hardcore tempos (Treibjagd’s 12 songs fly by in a mere 15 minutes), they’re a punk rock band at heart, with songs built around hooky riffs with eruptions of surf-tinged melody a la East Bay Ray from the Dead Kennedys. But while both the songs and the dry, punchy production recall proto-hardcore punk from the US west coast, the vocalist’s German-language speak-singing infuses Benzin’s sound with the icy cool of their country’s rich art-punk tradition (Bärchen und die Milchbubis). Songs range from the spiky minimalism of “Freundschaft” (which sounds like a long-lost Group Sex outtake) and “Traumaspirale” to more fleshed-out, garage-y tracks like “Zeichen Der Zeit” and “Treibjagd,” whose sassy, hip-swinging rhythms and big riffs could win over any Hives fan. Aficionados of artsy and agitated contemporary punk bands like Warm Bodies and Spread Joy are bound to fall for Benzin’s charms, but Treibjagd is a treat for any punker with an ear for a hyperactive hook. (Daniel Lupton)

[engl] Cosey steps right out of the screen of a crackly old vhs to deliver her second release of heels and leather groovers, lifted straight from the sticky dancefloors of smoke stained clubs of the 1981 you wish you partied so hard in you forgot to remember. Driving, crunching and grinding through eight sassy tracks, the conveyor belt of analog tunes is constructed on a foundation of vintage synths and sequencers. Vocals, ice cold like a frozen strawberry daiquiri, guide you through the club to the jukebox next to the cigarette machine so you can pick out that track you like, the one with the spontaneous uplifting guitar hook that comes out of nowhere and kicks like that pill you forgot you took back in 1981. ( Daryl Sulfate, Diät )

[engl] Riding the cold wave of success after a self released tape and her debut LP, one woman weapon Cosey Mueller returns with release number three. Straight down to business, Softcore sees Berlin’s favorite femme fatale evolve the vintage synthpunk sounds of her previous cassette and vinyl releases to reveal lusciously textured soundscapes for a mature, confident long player that is polished yet playful. Ribbed and studded with sassy statements and cheeky guitars riding the cynical synth lines, Softcore thrusts back and forth in time between the experimental DIY spirit of 81/82 to the industrial dance heyday of 86-89. An instant classic as fresh as the cool night air.

[engl] The international four piece offers its first sacrifice to vinyl with a barrelling new EP as a follow up to their 2021 demo. Five tracks of demonic speedy metal-punk by the way of crude Sabbat style riffs, featuring nods to Tormentor. All hell breaks fast and loose in tandem, and the howling, cacophonic Spanish vocals make this release uniquely its own.”

[engl] 6 Kraut klassics broadcast from deep out in the spacelab, where the sun don’t shine and noone can hear you scream... so you beep, whizz and chant monotone commands at the control board while the days turn into eternity and suddenly you can’t tell if it’s Berlin 2020 or West Germany ‘79.. With an enthusiasm and charm that brings to mind the early transmissions of cross border comrades DAF and F242 (I said “early”!) the execution is perfect. This is what languages like French and German were invented for and it’s delivered here ice cold. ( Daryl Sulfate / Diät / Clock of Time )

[engl] I wonder what Die Letzten Ecken did during the past 2 1/2 years since their debut EP. Did they steal Jürgen Engler’s Stahlofon? Did they listen to Nitzer Ebb’s Basic Pain Procedure for the cold minimalistc EBM appeal ? Did they ask Matthias Schuster how to combine this with the psychedelic electronica of the Berlin School like he did on Atemlos? Probably none of that. Find out for yourself but do not forget your Talisman to listen to it on a stroll. There is much more to discover here than whether there are Seen Links or Schlösser Rechts.

[engl] Official repress! Comes in the original artwork! West-German Punk-band from the city of Freiburg, active from 1980 until 1983. Unfortunately the bands only release! Here's the official repress!

[engl] The eagerly, queasily awaited return of HEAVY METAL. Their fourth album in as many years is a double - 26 songs and 65 odd minutes exploring a bunch of different modes but with the full allocation of puerile, brutally repetitive space-punk - from the headcrushin PiL-meets-Phantom Paynish opener ('SAVAGELY BEATEN BY FUNK') on in. It’s basically their Exile on Main St, albeit an Exile on Main St about golf, Bergadler beer, suicide and Frank Spencer. Limited pre-release cassette from Static Age...check the clips and tell me they’re not the best fucking band on earth. More info to follow, probably, but these will all have gone by then. DO NOT MISS!!!

[engl] Sean : And you thought the world had run out of great band names!! No sir - welcome to the debut album by Heavy Metal. Over the space of 13 tracks the two piece from Berlin make dirty punk, childlike chaos and raw DIY gems with reckless abandon. In parts it sounds like pissed idiots with a 4 Track recorder armed with a load of ATV 7”s and in other parts like some obscure Australian DIY 7” from 1979. Standout cuts are ‘Snail of Rock’ which is all snotty 77 punk rock, ‘Would You Adam and Eve It?’ which could have been one a classic Step Forward Records release and ‘Total Bullshit’ which sounds like the Sleaford Mods but with the recording quality of ‘Bullshit Detector’ compilations on Crass. You used to love Heavy Metal when you were young and now you can fall in love with Heavy Metal all over again. Lydia : After only six rehearsals and no previous recordings to date, Static Age is proud to introduce Berlin’s emerging powerhouse, HEAVY METAL. With this astonishing first full-length, HEAVY METAL crash through 13 tracks of noisy, antisocial, high-tension punk, eagerly mixing electric punk aggression with woozy electronic euphoria. The songwriting, which hits that sweet spot between rudimentary racket and surreal elaboration, brings the band’s restlessness to the forefront—they could break out into dance or a fight at any minute, everything sounds possible. No sense is left on the cutting room floor; instead, the clamoring drums, buzzing bass and snappy riffs are cut with catchy synths, bountiful pedal action and an exploding cocktail of bleeps, loops, samples and solos. This ticked off diversity shines on multiple, rewarding occasions. Single-ready “Don’t Call Me Brother,” with its kaleidoscopic synths and old-school beat, is a bona fide dance floor pleaser despite its antagonizing lyrical content, and “Staring at the Rich Kids” is an instant classic, a stomping class critique that could have easily been found on a Bullshit Detector comp circa 1979. Yet it is bonus track, “Total Bullshit,” that flawlessly showcases the creative menace found in the wake of their nihilism. A joyride of shambolic punk, with a frustrated Welshman spitting wit and sarcasm into the microphone, “LP” could be the circumstantial soundtrack to a weeklong drug binge, going through all the motions to match, including ecstasy, hysteria, hostility and an uncontrollable, primitive urge to fight and fuck. And by recording everything themselves, HEAVY METAL’s already bizarre sound is pushed further into the delightfully deranged corners of their collective potential. An intoxicating stream of consciousness, “LP” was recorded in their Lichtenberg practice space and mastered by the wizard of sonic chiaroscuro Daniel Husayn at North London Bomb Factory, making it sound as unhinged and sardonic as it is distinctively captivating. They’re already working on what is promised to be a much anticipated follow up, so get into it or don’t. Just don’t call ’em brother. ( Lydia )