[engl] Visiting the vaults of Zoikle’s Zeller Keller in early 2019 we dug up all demos and memos from between late 2010 and mid 2013… 2-track 4-track unfinished yet-to-be track what the hack whatever-track you name it we had it and added some vocals no locals and cello hello stringy thingy non-mimes sometimes and mixed and remixed a dozen plus two… here’s looking at you for this is the stuff that’s enough there is plenty oh yes there will be in two thousand and twenty.” Yes indeed, ZOIKLE is back, with a full album. Their first. And basically their second release since their first blast of existence in the period 2010-2013. Well, that was then, right? This is now… In 2011 Dutch singer/lyricist G.W. Sok (co-founder of The Ex in 1979 and their singer during the next 30 years), formed a band with guitarist Lukas Simonis (Dull Schicksal, Coolhaven) called ZOIKLE, they released their Illusies 1+2 7” in November the same year. Sok and Simonis were joined by Nina Hitz (cello) and Cor Hoogerdijk (drums), and worked on a whole bunch of songs in the two years thereafter, while doing the occasional gig. Zoikle came to a halt when Sok went to Paris for a few months in 2013: when he got back Simonis and Hitz were covered in a fresh doses of diapers, while Hoogerdijk got himself entangled in a ukelele overdrive. End of story. Not. Sok continued his musical life working with a whole slur of bands. Cannibales & Vahinés (F), King Champion Sounds (NL), Action Beat (UK), Oiseaux-Tempête (F), to name a few. Simonis played in Coolhaven, worked at Worm Rotterdam, created musical podcasts, and organed some serious series of events and concerts all over the place. Back to 2020. Simonis and Sok have revived ZOIKLE, work on new material, and will start playing live again soon. In the meantime, Tractor Notown, in collaboration with Red Wig, proudly presents their brand new, very first, self-titled vinyl album (with download-code).

[engl] It’s such a pleasant association for me that I was willing to allow ÖPNV a little ska-punk if they wanted, but this Berlin post-punk group clearly have no interest in any form of skanking. Theirs is a very sour and ostentatious form of robotic post-punk, delightfully free from guitars or any sort of traditional rock behavior. Rather, Deutsch Funk Revolte is equal parts disturbed and disturbing, minimal and unhinged, very much in the tradition of Nervous Gender, Kosmonautentraum, Palais Schaumburg and Cabaret Voltaire. Most songs are comprised of thuddy drumming, dubby bass, electronic bleeps/squelches and vocals acting as a disaffected tour guide to the proceedings. Pretty classic conceit, but it’s a style I personally relish, especially when performed with as much artful grit as ÖPNV display here. They’re willing to try interesting things with the form (unusual bass-lines, playful dub properties and so on) without feeling either too musical or polished. If they’re not already friends with Lavender Hex, a similarly (if further out-there) experimental dub-minded post-punk group from Berlin, they out to consider sending a congenial DM and making that connection. - Yellow Green Red

[engl] Primitive bass/drum/keys proto-darkwave that sounds (and is) undeniably German. Everything here is cold; even the forceful tracks like “Trabantenstadt,” with its sharp, barked vocals, sound drunk and trepidatious. Throw a Cosey-caliber damaged trumpet into “Rasthof” to top off an excellent offering that demands more listens and deeper exploration. - MRR