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FUSSPILS
11
ELEKTRO-POLIZEI
(ALARM FÜR FUSSPILS 11!)
ALBUM
SYNTHETIC SYMPHONY,
PLAYGROUND RELEASE:
FEBRUARY 28, 2005 REVIEW: APRIL
5, 2005
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It
has been said, in various
promotional contexts,
that this second Fusspils
11 album has been eagerly
awaited by the fan base.
I honestly did not know
they had one, as their
debut "Gib Ihr einen
Namen" pretty
much sounded like a half-finished
Funker Vogt product. "Elektro-polizei",
released no less than six
years after its flaky predecessor,
could also be deemed close
in sound and attitude to
Funker Vogt, but that all
lies in the craftsmanship
of mastermind Gerrit Thomas.
Whatever comes out of him
and his Lager2 studio creatively
tends to lean towards three
basic foundation stones:
static beats, effective
melody alterations and
dynamic production work.
"Elektro-polizei" has
engaged the forces of five
men and one woman, but
it is still essentially
Thomas' wand that is puppeteering
the action. My favourite
vocalist (well, he's in
the top-three) Tim Fockenbrock
(Ravenous lead singer)
lends his always impressive
skills to the Peter Maffay
cover "So bist du",
giving it so much life
it's blooming into electropop
perfection. This one, alone,
makes the album worthy
of attention. Why they
don't use him more is a
mind boggling mystery.
A number of additional
covers, like "Wo die
wilden Rosen blühen"
(a snappy electro attack
on the classic Kylie Minogue/Nick
Cave duet) and "Bodo
Ballerman", actually
add to the overall quality
of a disc suffering from
lack of variation musically.
Jens Kästel, Fockenbrock,
Peggy Johanson and Thomas
himself make sure to broaden
the spectrum vocally,
but only Tim excells in
that department.
With a tear in my eye, I am beginning to recognise the condition a friend
pointed out to me some time ago; that Funker Vogt, Fusspils 11, Ravenous
and Fictional nowadays all sound pretty much the same. I am still not
convinced, but I would love for, say, Ravenous to put a halt to my growing
hesitation.
NIKLAS FORSBERG
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