Der Teenage Panzerkorps-Thee Incantations of Bunker Wolf EP (2011)

During an extended tipple yesterday afternoon, a buddy and I were swapping music recommendations and I wouldn't shut up about the San Francisco/Aachen krautpunk powerhouse Der Teenage Panzerkorps (Der TPK). Given my longwinded rant about the virtues of combining motorik grooves with lo-fi punk guitar slop, I figured I should put my mp3 files where my mouth is and share this beaut with y'all.

"Afternoon Service" is thirty-eight seconds of luminescent, crude synthesizer immanence that breaks you in for the EP's rager, "V3." Der TPK is crude, musically speaking, for most people, but their insistent guitar whine and thrumming rhythm section are downright avant garde by punk standards. "V3" propels forward on a Neu!-esque beat, trashed guitar, and Bunker Wolf's Teutonic hollering mixed in the foreground. I can't describe what exactly makes me happy when I blast this at top volume, but it brings a smile to this grizzled old fuck's face every time, dontchaknow.

"Baptismal Fountain" continues clanking along on the 4-track mud march, but the mix is a bit cleaner: I could separate the synth line from the guitar thrum. Ending as it does at 1:43, "BF" doesn't overstay its welcome and would be the intro or coda to any other band's album. As it is, it's a terse bit of cleverness. On "God an Ape," Bunker Wolf continues his monotone howl, mixed so loudly it dwarfs the thump-n-bump of the band.

Es tut mir leid! After blowing out yr eardrums to this masterpiece, mosey on over to Burundi Cloud Records, where you can buy the EP and all the other records Der TPK has released of late. Groove on, goonies.