It’s strange, but Xmal Deutschland seemed to suffer the same fate as other cult bands like The Stooges, Suicide and Velvet Underground – they didn’t sell many records when they began, but gradually became more influential with time. Bands like Warpaint, VR Sex, Current Affairs and Savages owe them a debt- they definitely share a little musical DNA.
So it’s perhaps extremely timely that this compilation of early singles is getting released now. It’s still a sound as raw as when first hatched, an uncompromising sound that sat equally well beside Bauhaus as Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Schwarze Welt sets Fiona Sangster’s squelching keyboards against Anya Huwe’s imperious voice, forever teetering between ennui and ferocity. Junge Alt is a more danceable proposition, and Incubus Succubus is a punishing, relentless anthem comprised of jagged guitar and stabbing rhythms.
They may not have the polish of some postpunk, or camp, vampiric theatricality of many early goth arists, but they’re still an unvarnished, exhilarating listen over forty years later.
Out via Sacred Bones on March 8th.
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