This is wonderful and kinda hilarious all at the same time. It totally makes me think of that old Saturday Night Live sketch, “Sprockets” (YouTube that shit). It’s so German that it’s almost a parody. Really well-done synth punk, dance, post-punk…whatever. I guess it could be called coldwave these days, but unlike those poseurs, these guys are really German. For fans of COLD CAVE, KRAFTWERK, NERVOUS GENDER, etc. Now we dance.
For the last few years, the German underground scene has been spitting out one killer combo after another. These groups range from hardcore units finding new wrinkles in their chosen style to genre-defying post-punk projects that utilize new ways to incorporate electronics into a rock format. I.G. is a duo attempting to update Germany’s early ’80s Neue Deutsche Welle scene for today’s hyperspeed reality. This initial offering’s title (and presumably the band’s name) translates to English as “Isolation Community,” so you know they’ve got the quarantine blues something fierce. The music errs more towards OMD’s mersh aspirations than DAF’s razor-sharp electronic come-ons. This kind of understated new wave pomp (a contradiction in terms) needs really strong songs to pierce my veil of indifference. The aggressive “Gelande” comes close but is still betrayed by keyboard lines that sound straight out of a Sega Genesis game. “Schockstarre” is grimy and foreboding and probably my favorite track here.
