S-S made the easy decision to release another from Banque Allemande, the second, the dada ‘Willst du Chinese sein musst du die ekligen Sachen essen.’ The sequel is a distinct shift from the thrash kick-off of the band’s ‘Eins, Zwei.’ In their notes, the label rightfully wonder about the state of punk in Berlin, where, despite how hard some may like to pursue the myth of the apolitical punk whatever, there’s no standing still on that moving train. To be fair, I only catch every tenth word in German, and the band sings nothing but. Plus: less Teenage Panzerkorps and more Horrid Red, the band dredge up the post-punk timbres of Unwound and fit them into a coarser grid and steady 4/4, with new wave angles and a glassy sheen. Further still, the LP demonstrates a decidedly un-punk commitment to extrapolate, with just six tracks, the majority of which exceed seven minutes each. Not that it ever gets that dark, and the Fugazi hundred-guitar dirges never seem to end; but they are German, they like their bass tones low and harmonics searing white. Particularly with its release abreast the debut beer-punk of Spray Paint, the wry yet ruthless menace of “Warmes Wasser” recalls the power by fiat of Billy Bao’s debut ‘Dialectics of Shit,’ even more so as it transitions to the Shellac-ed industrialisms of “Schlaf An Einem Anderen Tag.” Still, the melodic urge is deep, and while the band wield total control of that admission – the chorus of “Suchmaschine” setting like a leaf over the Vic Bondi riff, or the constant air underneath “Schwarz Vor Schwarzer Wand” despite all locked grooves – the punk does not come off. Pressed to 400 copies. Next level collaged art by Jurgen Grewe. Recommended.
S-S Records LP
$13
HERE