Since their formation in 2014, Tokyoâs Minami Deutsch have tried to strike a balance between honoring the musical styles of yesteryear and creating something new. These self-described ârepetition freaksâ cite psychedelic rock and minimal techno as guideposts, but-as evidenced by a band name that is Japanese for âSouth Germanyâ-theyâre really obsessed with krautrock. Lead guitarist and vocalist Kyotaro Miula has said that they gravitate toward this sound because itâs music for people who want to innovate. On their second album, With Dim Light, Minami Deutsch start delivering on that claim.Â
Plenty of Japanese bands have been inspired by the motorik pace of early-â70s German outfits, but Minami Deutsch focus on a very specific period in krautrock history. Their earliest releases and self-titled 2015 debut album drew on the sceneâs primordial days, particularly the locked-in rhythms of the first two Neu! albums. On record and in live settings, they excel at reproducing this soundâitâs not shocking to learn that theyâve jammed with Damo Suzuki. Listening to Minami Deutsch, though, you can start longing to hear the pioneering sounds of Neu! 2instead.Â
With Dim Light doesnât minimize the bandâs influencesââTunnelâ is like a motorik training exercise, with Minami Deutsch studiously testing the limits of repetition. But now theyâre allowing some original flair into their songs. âConcrete Oceanâ starts the album with a familiar, driving drum beat and bassline but takes its time settling into a groove. When Miulaâs guitar finally enters the mix, it speeds up the tempo slightly while lending a sly, melodic prettiness to the trioâs often hard-edged sound. âTangled Yarn,â a knot of criss-crossing electric guitar melodies and softly sung vocals, brings to mind the psych-rock slow burners of their Guruguru Brain labelmates Kikagaku Moyo; that bandâs drummer, Go Kurosawa, happens to be one of four guest percussionists on the album who help to give each track its own character.Â
While Minami Deutschâs eagerness to explore novel sounds makes them more than just revivalists, itâs the structure of With Dim Light that makes their experimentation powerful. Beyond the repetitive beats dance music takes from krautrock, it can be tough to pinpoint the techno influences that the band has talked up, but the sequence of the new album evokes the peaks and drops of a great DJ set. After two relaxed opening numbers, âTunnelâ picks up the pace. Then, centerpiece âIâve Seen a U.F.O.â fuses a simple, speedy rhythm with distorted guitar bursts and Miulaâs murmured vocals, in a career highlight whose psychedelic wildness dilates time and conjures an unnerving tension at once. âBitter Moonâ offers an acoustic comedown before sliding into nine minutes of tuneful oblivion on closer âDonât Wanna Go Back.âÂ
The band makes the most of repetition on this last track, letting new guitar and bass arrangements slowly emerge as a steady beat maintains the songâs momentum. âIâm tired,â Miula starts chanting, about five minutes inâand heâs earned that fatigue by the end of an album that rarely settles for mimicry. If krautrock was all about ingenuity, then With Dim Light takes Minami Deutsch one step closer to following in the footsteps of their German heroes.
Tracklist:
01. Concrete Ocean (4:53)Â
02. Tangled Yarn (7:16)Â
03. Tunnel (5:47)Â
04. Iâve Seen a U.F.O. (8:37)Â
05. Bitter Moon (5:01)Â
06. Donât Wanna Go Back (9:13)
Summary:
Country: Japan
Genre: psychedelic rock
Media Report:
Source              : CD
Format              : FLAC
Format/Info            : Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM