Various Artists - Too Much Future: Punkrock GDR 1980 - 1989 [Edition Iron Curtain Radio 001]

What a major task, this. Edition Iron Curtain Radio in conjunction with Major Label have taken on the documentation of the lost, mostly unheard of, suppressed and mostly considered illegal PunkRock scene of the GDR in the 80s - a.k.a. East Germany in the decade before the wall came finally down. Mostly acting and operating in a conspirative manner, with secret concerts if concerts at all there seems to have been a thriving, yet constantly endangered underground of youth against established structures which, in those times, referred to the established networks and manners of the socialist party in power. Unearthing and recovering songs of a total of 38 bands like Die Fanatische Frisöre, DDR Terrorstaat, Virus X, Betonromantik, Küchenspione and many more, many of which never got a permission to perform live and therefore only existed in the grey area of their own rehearsal rooms, most likely some dusty rotten basement of sorts, and known only to those in the know, this compilation documents a seldom told story of subversion and internal noncompliance as well as the thought process of an entire and somewhat lost generation which was thrown into a new world order shortly after, swept away, forgotten and overlooked in the tumultous years after Germany's reunification. But still - PunkRock in East Germany was a real, fever'ish and angry phenomenon which can be heard especially in songs like the ecstatic, violent and delirious opener "Die Sterne Sind Schwanger" by Konstruktives Liebeskommando, the captivating, female-led and rather PostPunk / (No)Wave-leaning "Fenster" by Namenlos, the alarming, intense, Spoken Word-driven "Töten Und Fressen" by Grabnoct as well as Wutanfall's high octane outing "Messestadtpunk", the touching, sad storytelling of Betonromantik's "Hässlich", the most desolate Greyscale (No)Wave of Kein Talent's "Die Zeit", the ultra lo-fi NoisePunk / Grind of "3 Jahre" by The Leistungsleichen, the over the top theatric drama presented by Hortel in "Ahoo Ahoo", the paranoid "Angst" by Band Ohne Namen, the clearly 'Hotel California'-influenced "Spiesser" by Küchenspione and many many more great tunes plus an additional 23 minutes live mashup concert recording on this interesting compilation. Recommended, not only for historical or documentary reasons.

Album artwork on Instagram!