Kratzen

As stoically as the unofficial descendants of Marcus Aurelius would do, Melanie Graf, Thomas Mersch, and Stefanie Staub have been constantly sending beguiling waves of sound into the ether since 2017 and have stuck to that mission: A few visceral chords, laconic aphorisms in song text form, and spirited voices often enough cast a spell over the audience. ‘Kratzen’ (2020) and ‘Kratzen Zwei’ (2022) are testament to how well this formula works when realised with the necessary understatement and sensitivity for ambiguous songwriting. It seems logical that the equation of krautrock and new wave must lead directly to the synthesis of krautwave – but it simply hadn’t been done before in this form. The Cologne trio play from song to song in a pleasantly unscratchy, repetitive, almost mechanical way. It smells of petrol and smog. Nevertheless, sweat and blood flow through these songs, which accompany the train journey through the desert of late capitalism like stirring and simultaneously hypnotic background music. ‘III’ (2025) is the name of Kratzen’s third opus, which still seems to do nothing differently and therefore cannot do anything wrong. Once again, the group rumble tactfully through the ear, once again uncompromisingly into the twilight of a broken era.