LIARS, everybody’s favourite weirdos, spielen an diesem Sonntag abend in der Volksbühne in Berlin und veröffentlich ihr neues Album “WIXIW”(nein, wir auch nicht). Da die Band um Sänger Angus Andrew Mitte der letzten Dekade auch einige Jahre in Berlin verlebte, bietet es sich natürlich an, sie zu einem German Blind Date einzuladen – und erstaunlicherweise hören Liars auch tatsächlich die Fehlfarben-DAF-Verwandtschaft heraus, chapeau!


Fehlfarben – Apokalypse (1980)


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTIIwV_OkfU[/youtube]


My first impression of this was that of a more sentimental/poetic, less vivid version of DAF, one of my favorite artists on Mute. Upon further research I found that they started only a year after DAF, and seemed to have shared a bass player. Admittedly a shallow reason, it made me like it a bit more, though I would rather listen to DAF. While I hate to lump them together so definitively, I would rather supply my first impression and not retract it. It seems I now have to research Düsseldorf further, as not only is this interesting enough, something must have been in the water. DAF set the bar really high, so it is no offense that my impression of this is a mild version of their work.


Blumfeld – Verstärker (1992)


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK3vcahVMAw[/youtube]


Never heard of this, or much of the nineties groups from Hamburg. I really like this in spite of not knowing what they are singing about. It reminds me of PIL’s Poptones in structure somewhat. The same simple pattern starts and stops repeatedly. The melody is there enough and sad enough where you want it back in the breaks. Not to be repetitive in comparing these selections with Mute artists, but it reminds me of Ideal Copy era WIRE, though less pretentious and a bit more sensual rather than intellectual (in a very good way). I’m a sucker for this type of thing.

Tocotronic – Aber hier leben nein danke (2005)


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu_EXn9Kfkw[/youtube]


Sorry, but I’m not so into this one. It kind of reminds me of REM, a band I have had some respect for, but have never really gotten into. I guess they were around in the same circle as Blumfeld. While I haven’t heard anything else by either group, I much prefer Blumfeld’s track and video. It seems to me that they are expressing some type of angst, though it is over intellectualized and down the wrong path for me.


Blue Angel Lounge – Caught Crow (2010)


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg2OZd7rPTc[/youtube]


Not too into this. I think they’re fine at what they do, but it doesn’t really do much for me I hate to say. I did a quick search and saw they are from the same town as Nena. I prefer Nena, though I can admit that maybe I am too shallow and eighties at heart for this? In all honesty, my brother was a goth so I grew up listening to Siouxsie and the Banshees and Skinny Puppy, not The Band or The Byrds. I’m sure there’s a lot of people who will get this in the world.


HKZ – Norm (2011)


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHqWVldB8sM&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]


Not into this. It is here where I should probably point out something about my musical taste. I like the Sex Pistols, hate The Clash. I love The Germs, hate Black Flag. I think what these examples point out is my attraction to absurdity, stupidity, and artifice.


This band is not stupid enough for me.


While it seems like some might regard this as “Stoner Rock”, it seems more like this and The Blue Angel Lounge are “Sober Rock” to me. As if they were of clear mind and tried to concoct what is commonly perceived as something psychedelic, feeling they’ve achieved their goal they then might smoke some weed, fooling them into thinking this might have some magic that just isn’t there for me. Maybe I’m wrong…maybe they aren’t psych rock or trying to be. Maybe they aren’t wasting weed by smoking and writing in the wrong order. Not to play cop or anything, but how can music that’s supposed to be “psychedelic” sound so similar? Do you think Jimi Hendrix’s sound would change if he lived long enough to see Avatar and did the same drugs he was doing? Don’t you think he’d put down the fucking guitar? I don’t mean to be hurtful, but both of these bands are young and seemingly capable to do whatever they want. I think they can do something better than this. What would Jimi REALLY do today?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNKFveZBgfQ[/youtube]

Das neue Album WIXIW ist bereits erschienen.

Alle (German) Blind Date – Folgen:
* Hot Chip über Die Sterne, Fehlfarben, Justus Köhncke, Tocotronic, Blumfeld, DJ Koze
* The Stranglers über Die Sterne, Tocotronic, Blue Angel Lounge etc
* Die Sterne über Ja Panik, Chuckamuck, Ecke Schönhauser etc
* We Were Promised Jetpacks über Tocotronic, Ja Panik, 1000 Robota etc
* The Walkabouts über The Walkabouts über Tocotronic, Ja Panik, Hans Unstern etc
* Los Campesinos! über Tocotronic, Blumfeld, Ja Panik etc