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Die Letzten Ecken: Talisman 12" (Static Age Musik) There’s nothing like being knocked out by an album you didn’t know you needed in your life, and that’s what happened when I listened to Talisman, the new LP from Germany’s Die Letzten Ecken. The track that hooked me first was “Rasender Stillstand,” a hard and fast synth-punk banger of the highest order, a Mussolini Headkick that knocks you out and drags you by the collar to an undisclosed location. Think Nervous Gender, the Normal, Metal Urbain… the jagged and paranoid stuff that is punk as fuck with nary a stringed instrument in sight. An album full of tracks like this would have been just fine by me, but over the course of Talisman, Die Letzten Ecken wheels out a host of Sprockets-adjacent moves. “Der Ritter” is more industrial, pulling from the darkest and heaviest corners of the Wax Trax catalog, Throbbing Gristle, and Einsturzende Neubauten, while “Brennender Kummer” and “Talisman” have a more of a balanced approach to sweet and salty, combining pulsing, dance floor-ready low end with a more delicate sense of melody from the synths. Those tracks have a similar vibe to Fatamorgana, and they work well as moments of melodic respite peppered amongst the harsher sounds on the rest of the album. Each song has its own character, and the masterful sequencing makes Talisman a gripping front-to-back listen; it feels like a strong album in a way few records do these days. While Talisman is great in and of itself, its sound and style feel fresh and suited to the moment. I’m smitten with Talisman, and if your tastes also span punk and underground electronic music, I encourage you to check it out.