In the run up to this compilation’s release, none other than The Guardian ran an interview with former Xmal Deutschland singer Anja Huwe; decent profile for a band who split up in 1990, were mostly a cult outfit who never had a hit and also whom in the period the record covers sung exclusively in their native German.
Originally an all female quintet who came out of Hamburg’s compact alternative scene, as the retrospective outlined despite the contemporary ideas of Gothic rock being an English construct they quickly gained currency as one of it’s pioneers, due in no small measure to the patronage of the late night maverick DJ John Peel.
Early Singles 1981-1982 is a scant document but a revealing one, tracing the band’s progression from their wiry, post punk indebted first single Schwarze Welt to the clatteringly anthemic Incubus Succubus, a track which became a Peel staple and went a long way to cementing their status. A tour with the Cocteau Twins would subsequently earn them a deal with the totemic 4AD label, but that was over the horizon. Here instead are the seeds of a movement being planted.
You can read a full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 