DIE PERLEN ZEHN ALBUM FIRE!ZONE RELEASE: NOVEMBER 27, 2009 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 19, 2010

After nine years with “telektroponk” it’s time for Die Perlen to sum everything up with a best of called “Zehn”. As you might guess from their special genre, the band takes some electro, adds a punk feeling and then pours everything through a filter of classic Neue Deutsche Welle. The result is a quite unique sound, a bit in the same familiy as Welle:Erdball (who they have worked with).

We get a total of 19 tracks on this release, a nice collection of their entire career so far. There isn’t much development in the songs, the band have found their sound and stick to it. No big problem, this is nice party music and I can help tapping along to the beat. I have some favourites of course, “Großstadtangst” for instance which is the song that got me interested in the band a few years ago. I also really like “Stadt Stirbt” and “Stadt Lebt” from the vinyl “Stadt.EP”. They manage to take the playfulness from the old NDW-scene into the future, adding a personal touch on the way.

However 71 minutes of NDW-punk just get a tad too much. I would have preferred a more selective approach because there are songs that shouldn’t have made the cut. But the sound is good, the variation between female and male vocals is a nice contrast and I will definitely continue to listen to their future releases, but please, quality before quantity.

TOBIAS ELIASSON