LÜGER

Spanish psyche/space band named under German pistol Parabellum (from 1908), English/German/French songs names and krautrock influence? Their debut album's opener disappointed a bit - vintage electronic space soundscapes, almost boring.

Then things go better. Compositions are full of energy (and electronic sounds), with repetitive constructions, but modern enough not to be mixed with Can works. But main influence is Primal Scream with Swastika Eyes (Luger has their Swastika Sweetheart on this album) and Kowalski. Explosive mix of indie, electronica sound and krautrock. With some amount of psychedelic/space.

When compared with Primal Scream, they have a bit less electronic and some bigger accent on German vintage krautrock sound. But successfully mixing it into quite freshly sounding music. Interesting debut album for Primal Scream fans and indie-electronic-psyche lovers. Free album download from band's site.

I've had this album for a while now, ever since the band released it as a free download. I've listened to it a good amount of times since getting it, and I'm really impressed with what they've done here. This album is Lüger's debut, and it's a very good debut at that. The album is strongly influenced by some of the Krautrock greats (Neu!, Faust and Can especially come to mind). The album has a good thick sound to it. Sometimes it gets to have a good dirty sound, sometimes it sounds cleaner, sometimes it's somewhere in the middle. There isn't anything really bad about the album, but it does have a couple drawbacks; sometimes, the vocals get nearly completely buried underneath the instrumentals, and sometimes the instrumental sound is just a bit too muddy for my taste. Nothing too major, though. Several of the tracks here are excellent, and the rest all fall in the "good to great" range. My favorites would have to be "Swastika Sweetheart", "Why Should I Care?", "Portrait of a Distant Look", and to a slightly lesser degree "La Fin Absolue du Monde".

If you're a fan of psychedelic/space rock or Krautrock (or both!) you should definitely check this one out. It's a solid debut by a band who will hopefully keep making more strong albums. Four stars!

Fresh psychedelic krautrock from Spain!

It is not so common to listen to a Spanish band with some kraut influences, but Lüger does it and so well. Once again I took advantage of the internet facility and downloaded for free their self-titled debut album from their website (it is also available via last.fm) and since the first listen I felt impressed and enjoyed what I heard.

This young band released their first album in this 2010, so we can expect more from them in the near future, at least I do. The eponymous features seven compositions and a total time of 37 minutes. It kicks off with "Spotted Introspective Female Firecracker" whose electronic sound reminds me to some seventies acts such as Tangerine Dream or Heldon. This song is a bit slow and may take a couple of minutes to get used to it, and you better wait, because the next ones are better.

"Swastika Sweetheart" will make you move your head and open the gates to the psychedelic realm. Though the music could be repetitive, you will not feel bored, on the other hand that repetitiveness will cause an addiction and you will enjoy the whole song. Here there are vocals in English, and to be honest it reminds me a bit of Kula Shaker.

"Die Sonne Muss Untergehen!" shows that strong German influence they have, if you had a doubt about their label as a kraut-rock band, then you here will understand why. This is another interesting instrumental track whose first two minutes are again repetitive but addictive, in a mid-tempo time it starts to grow just before minute three. I love the guitars and keyboard sound, they put several elements during the whole song which make it better. The last minute is stronger, and the addition of drums makes it powerful.

"Bedlam in a Sugar Plum Fairy Reception" is the shortest track with less than three minutes. It gives the sensation of joy, I imagine people cheering in the street. Nice short song, of course, not the best. "Why Should I Care?" reminds me to the second track, that evident psychedelic feeling has been placed here once again, the keyboards and raw guitars are excellent, bass and drums also play their role, and vocals are pretty nice, I really enjoy it.

"Portrait of a Distant Look" is another excellent track that follows that psych/kraut path that Lüger's music suggests. The keyboard sound all over the song is amazing, but it is worth mentioning the addictive bass sound that never disappears and maintains the music in the same line. The vocals are good again, and after a short stop, just before minute three the song becomes even better. It is probably my favorite from this album. Excellent!

Finally, "La Fin Absolue Du Monde" , i know, after singing in English and having a previous song with a German title, now the finish with one french titled song, I don't really know why that three language mix, but it is not really important when the music is great. This is a faster song with a peculiar sound, the guitars are well played and placed, drums and keyboards always making a good job. This is another psychedelic addictive song, though I have to admit that in moments the album sounds way too repetitive, it does not fail.

I am very pleased with this debut album, and now I am looking forward to their second effort. People you can go to Lüger website and download it for free, if you like psychedelic music, then you must do it, I highly recommend it. My final grade is four stars.

Enjoy it!

The self-titled debut release by modern krautrockers Lüger is a fantastic amalgamation of obvious influence from previous popular krautrock groups, such as Can, Amon Düül II, and Faust. I particularly get a strong Faust impression from the sounds of the electronics used on this recording, but a strong Neu! impression from the great energy. Occasionally, the music gives off a Jefferson Airplane feel, but not too often.

Because this album is modern, and has been recorded on more sophisticated equipment, this album initially felt much heavier than the earlier krautrock, giving off kind of a krautrock meets '90s Seattle grunge sound. But really, this album is very much spot-on with the early krautrock sound. The electronic wails mix fantastically with the slightly-punk attitude and percussive energy. This album, like others in the krautrock genre, is loud and noisy, but it all comes together and is a great delight.

This group is fantastic and young, and I definitely hope to hear more from them in the future. Even though this album is a great example of modern krautrock and most likely will be enjoyable to fans of the genre, I see great potential in ability to really draw out more experimental sounds on later releases. This free download is very highly recommended.

This is another band that I know next to nothing about, Lüger being another random forum discovery that turned out well. This self-titled album is an incredibly unique, original affair, incorporating elements of many different genres yet not solidly fitting into any of them completely. Moving from drifting soundscapes to crunchy riffs, this is a fascinating album and certainly one that deserves a listen.

"Spotted Introspective Female Firecracker" begins the album on a very spacey note- the whole track is basically a soundscape, blending your typical sedate, psychedelic noises with some slightly jarring electronic effects. It's a great blend of sound, but, while it's certainly not boring, 6.5 minutes is a bit long in my mind for this track, just from an album pacing standpoint, especially when the track is labeled as an intro.

"Swastika Sweetheart" begins seamlessly from the closing sounds of this intro, and immediately takes a more driven, uptempo, rhythmic direction than did its predecessor. Making great use of some psychedelic guitar and synth laid over insistent drums and electronic back-beat, the song establishes a pattern that gets kicked into overdrive about two minutes in, with the percussion growing more frenetic and the guitars amping up the distortion. Over this noisy yet precisely controlled music the album's first vocals enter, taking a surprisingly melodic lead given how the album started off. This song sounds painfully obtuse while simultaneously managing to be very accessible, with a veritable miasma of sound coalescing into an incredibly compelling, almost poppy sounding song. Great stuff.

"Die Sonne muss untergehen!" follows, setting a calmer mood with some percussion, synths and bass atmosphere that has a slightly eastern sound to it. Some string sounds make some more noise on top of this for a while before the arrangement opens up a little bit and the track takes on a more melodic motif. This section of the track has a very hypnotic feel to it, making the listener feel like he or she is floating through space. That's a very cliché thing to say about psychedelic music but this track by Lüger is one of the first I've heard that I think the descriptor legitimately applies to. A great example of a track built around a repetitive motif but manages to create a final product in which every moment feels totally original and fresh.

"Bedlam in a sugar plum fairy reception (excerpt)" starts off with some percussion before some guitar and some off kilter, (very) slightly dissonant wordless vocals enter as well. Some kind of keyboard joins in almost immediately and the guitar takes the lead as primary melodic instrument. The keyboards get their chance at this role in the end of song, as the vocals drop out and the song closes in a mass of arrangement; with every instrument doing something totally different to create a sonic whole.

"Why Should I Care" switches back to a more riff-based structure, and the addition of vocals ensures that this is a far more conventional track than either of the previous two were. That said, the band still manages to pack quite a bit of sound into their music, and there are synths aplenty supplementing the drum and guitar backbone of the track. "Why Should I Care" sacrifices a bit of the abstract musical construction that the previous tracks had, but it does so in favor of stronger melodic presence, which in my opinion is an excellent decision that helps the pacing of the album immensely.

"Portrait of a Distant Look" has a very similar feel to "Swastika Sweetheart," as it starts off with a repetitive electronic back beat and adds other sounds and vocals on top of that. This is the music Kraftwerk would make if they decided to be a punk band- there are definite elements of Kraftwerk-esque electronic sequencing, but the other instruments (especially drum and bass) add such an intensity to the song that "Portrait of a Distant Look" is far from the slick, often mechanical tunes of that band. It's a fascinating juxtaposition of styles, made even more interesting by the end section, which manages to keep the feel of the rest of the song while also throwing in some more tripped out, hurtling-through-space synths.

"La fin absolue du monde" closes off the album in a similar vein, combining frenetic pseudo- electronica with guitars ripped straight from the acid-washed 60s. Electronically modified vocals only add to the madness, and for the rest of its duration the song takes various turns into spacey jams, synth solos and everything else you could possibly want from your electro- psych-prog.

So, while I personally feel it begins on a bit of a slow note, Lüger's self-titled album ends up being a very good one, blending electronica with alt-rock and progressive psychedelia in new and interesting ways. It's not often that I get to say this but, aside from some very brief resemblances to Kraftwerk, I really can't think of another band tha sounds like Lüger. Accessible yet incredibly dense, noisy and yet surprisingly melodic, this is a far cry from 70s prog but it's certainly progressive rock in a literal sense.

4/5