80 Days At Sea was the debut album by Hannover based new Wave Kraut punks Der Moderne Man who self-produced the album, the band are Mattus, Claudi H, E.K.T. and Ziggy XY. Originally released on No Fun records in 1980 this is only the second time the album has been re-issued since.
The album opens with the jangling new wave of Der Unbekannte that has decidedly declaimed vocals, they call out that stranger, wondering why they are where they are, fear of strangers would have been in every Germans mind in the cold war era no doubt.
Telefonlied has them working the phone lines looking for new songs, or are they calling up to hear a tune, the bassline is central, guitars fire off, they seem to get angrier.
Dreizehn is apparently about a thirteen-year campaign, sorry my German skills don't allow me to know what sort of campaign they were running, but it is with a rather dubby bass line for the neu wave jangling guitar to fire off from, they use some classic Dub sound effects.
Haarschnitt has the clippers out, giving some poor sap something I've not had this century so far, the cuts come in time with the piano notes that go all over the place, next to the squelchy noises, this is a very choppy haircut.
Dauerlauf is a rather speedy new wave song about a long-distance ski race, the chorus seems to be urging the racers on.
Gib Mir Den Tod (Fortsetzung Un Schluss) is super odd dub punk with loads of weird noises and howls, quite peculiar and unsettling.
Licht Und Dunkelheit is a Bauhaus like dive into the dualism between Black and White the light and dark, the vocals are almost chanted.
Mitternacht is rum goings on at the midnight hour, the snare drum seems central, squiggly guitar and synth lines wobbly around.
Farblich Gesehen is a rather colourfully speedy tune with weird things going on in the guitar, until suddenly they are screaming into the void.
Heute in Hannover in 1980 this made total sense, jagged guitars buzzing synths, dub plate drumming and bass, special effects, sirens screaming across the speakers.
Vergesslichkeit has a lot of words they are hoping not to forget, in this new wave chanted song with odd percussion.
The album closes with Flucht with a weird intro to them escaping from the confines of Hannover, trying to find other Germans who love the Wipers and Wire as much as they seem too.
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