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Schimmel Über Berlin: Eisenmund 12” (Static Age Musik) While continuing to release a steady drip of punk and hardcore, over the past few years Berlin’s Static Age Musik has established a productive sideline releasing some of the most interesting (and German-sounding!) post-punk music around from artists like Cosey Mueller, Aus, and Die Letzten Ecken, all of whom have been big favorites around Sorry State HQ. Now they’ve added to that list with this excellent debut from Schimmel Über Berlin. Working with a similar set of post-punk influences as many other bands—Killing Joke, Bauhaus, Siouxsie & the Banshees, the Cure—Schimmel Über Berlin distinguish themselves from this crowded field with genuinely first-rate songwriting, playing, and production. The first thing that leapt out at me was the brilliant guitar-playing, which walks the line perfectly between being catchy and inventive. I hear a lot of PiL’s Keith Levene in the playing, with the guitarist exploring every aspect of the instrument’s expressiveness, melodically, rhythmically, and texturally. My favorite is when the guitarist takes a very odd, almost Devo-esque sequence of notes and, through sheer repetition, turns them into a hook, which works beautifully on “Der Gute Sohn.” If that’s a little too out there for you, though, they’re just as good at rock bombast, which you hear on another standout track, “Schreck,” which proves that even when Schimmel Über Berlin is at their least adventurous, they’re still exciting. The rhythm section is also very strong, capably weaving between upbeat, driving songs like “Schattenriss” (which has a similar riff and groove to Killing Joke’s “The Wait”) and moodier, tom-drenched pieces like “Eisenmund” and “Weise Fee,” which are in that early Banshees / Faith / Seventeen Seconds kind of space, like the soundtrack to a very slow-moving ritual sacrifice. I also love that while the rhythm section is super heavy, the mix leaves a lot of space in the middle register, giving the recording a cavernous, haunted vibe which works beautifully with these songs. As for the vocals, you’ll love them if—like me—you’re a big fan of Cosey Mueller or Die Letzten Ecken, as they lean on a similar style of speak-singing that feels cold, distant, and very German, though Schimmel Über Berlin’s singer can also drift into simple and serene melodies… even better is when the two approaches are overdubbed on top of one another, as on “Eisenmund.” I have to admit this lane of post-punk-inspired music is so crowded that I’m leery of new bands in this style, but Eisenmund is so well-rounded, so expertly conceived, and so rich with depth that it’ll grab you from the first listen and keep you spinning.