Reviews: Massenhysterie (2015), The Big Sun, Dyan (2016).

 

massenhysterie epMASSENHYSTERIE: Massenhysterie EP — “kinky electro punk”, or Neue Deutsche Welle revival from Austria: authentic “we just bought our first MS-20” sound, shouting in German and unfortunate tendency to resort to the quirky. But is fundamentally worthwhile and won’t leave you feeling shortchanged. This EP is from last year (video for title track above), but they just did a video for “Weiber regieren die Welt” (below) in preparation for a forthcoming album.

 

the big sun lonely girlTHE BIG SUN: Lonely Girl — very obvious and straightforward mainstream-indie pop with very good singer-songwriter Berry (this post’s cover pic) and apparently a couple of former members of Ride in. Took some convincing; the title song was too cheesy for me on first listen (though better on second), but “Bruiser” caught my ear and “Red Box Line” kept hold of it. A definite grower on top of its upfront. Below: “Time I Bought A Boat”. (warning: heavy on the strobe.)

 

dyan looking for knivesDYAN: Looking For Knives Folky pop songs done in full cinematic with atmospheric electronics and soaring female vocals. (You can tell they’re film composers.) This is a seriously good one. See also Billboard interview, no less.

 

“If I ever grow tired of stern-looking German women in purple hair and leather outfits yelling at me over synths, put me down for my own good.” — Wikkheiser on Massenhysterie (even though they’re Austrian)

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