The Notwist - Chemicals

Four piece German band Notwist got thier start as a three man punk layout in '89, but quickly changed gears, morphing their sound into a collage of glitchy electronics and driving indie rock. Shrink, being their fourth effort, shows a more refined and emotional side of these boys - mixing things that might not seem to fit together into a beautiful, seamless whole. It took sometime for this album to get Stateside attention as their American label went under before release. U.S. distributors Triage and Caroline have done a very good thing, having re-released those first four Notwist albums, thereby making it much easier for new fans to get to know these guys better.

For Shrink they employ the services of noted laptop arranger and future member Martin Gretschmann (of Console notoriety) who lends his mix to about half of the tracks.They proceed to blend such disparate sounds as laptop cuts and bleeps, jazz, and traditional pop song structures in a way that becomes thrilling at times. Listening back to earlier projects and hearing the unique evolution of Notwist, their next album should be something to behold.

Bonus Track - Moron