Artist: Die Kreuzen
Album: Die Kreuzen
Year: 1984
Genre: Hardcore Punk
It would be a touch too elementary of me to merely write
about what a brilliant and barbaric hardcore punk record Die Kreuzen's
full-length debut is, and then continue to prattle on how it contends with
anything released from 1984 and previous years.
Although all of this is true, it would be unfair. For years I’ve contended that the creativity
and talent of this band vastly superseded their peers. I briefly expressed these thoughts in an
earlier review of their Gone Away
EP. Even though this self-titled record
is in a consistent rotation for me, I recently listened with a purposeful and
analytical ear. Instead of taking the
album in as megaton auditory blast that makes you want to heave objects at a
brick wall just to see them smash to pieces, I intently listened to the musical
effort of the band and not just the annihilating outcome.
Die Kreuzen were erratic, fierce and unconventional for what
was defined as punk in the early 80s.
Their approach is highly unorthodox much in the same way Dead Kennedys
or Flipper were considered odd. While other bands were bashing the living
hell out of themselves and their instruments, replacing passion for talent and
playing fast for ferocity’s sake, Die Kreuzen had both unbridled fury and innovative
skill. These guys were light years ahead
of the pack. The guitar playing is the
demonic baby of Daniel Ash and Greg Ginn; dissonant but always forceful. The
influence it had on bands such as Voivod is obvious as their guitarist Piggy
(RIP) was well known for turning standard chords inside out; a trait heard
often throughout the entire Die Kreuzen catalog. The rhythm section ultimately controls the
pace of this record with precision decision making on what should be fast for
neck-snapping power, what should be slow for dreary dynamics and what should be
off-time to accentuate some the weirdness going on. The singing (yeah right) is absolutely
maniacal. Other guys sounded tough; Dan
sounded possessed. His tell-tale shrieks
have still yet to be duplicated. With
that said, the way this band played music has yet to be replicated. What always boggles my mind is that there
really wasn’t a blueprint for the band to play this way. This album might be 1984, but some of the
songs were released on their first demo as early as 1982. Their strain of individuality continued
throughout their career. Die Kreuzen
we’re always 3 steps ahead and flew by all the bands playing catch-up with what
they heard in 1982. True innovators.
Listen to "Live Wire" here.
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