As part of the celebrations this year of 50 years of Punk German label Tapete Records have collaborated with book publishers Ventil Verlag to put together this album as the soundtrack to the comic book of the same name that translates as Barefoot In Broken Glass, that is named after a song by Hans A Plast that isn't on the album. This compilation concentrates on German language punk between 1979 and 1986 when Germany was still a divided nation and in the middle of the cold war.
The compilation opens with Kein Paradies by Der KFc with plenty of urgent guitars and frantic drumming the vocals have a good punch in the air singalong quality as they band get ever faster.
Tanz Mit Den Herzen by Fehlfarben has an insistent bassline that everything else goes off around, almost spoken word vocals seem to be describing some desperate events, while the guitars are new wave almost funk disco, this has an extreme dance edge to it.
Meerschweinschen by Ostro 430 is keyboards led femme punk with a Brechtian edge to it, some great honking sax along with weird cartoon guinea pig noises and insistent keyboards. Deutschland by Slime is dub punk with good fuzzy guitar interjections and raw angry vocals that seem to be descrying the state of Germany.
Musilibrei by Rotzkotz is a good speedy anthem for what they might find in that music library. This has a good early hardcore feel.
Tiefseefish by Barchen Un Der Milchbubis is one of Bear & The Milkboys best known songs and revolves around a great new wave bassline and Bear's gentle sounding vocals. They are just embarking on a comeback tour.
Bundeswehr by Brauspoter this is minimalistic avant punk that has a This Heat feel in places to how the scratchy feelings develop, I'm not sure how well they can play and that all adds to the charm as the vocals become more declamatory.
Risikofaktor 1:X by Male discusses just what risks it is worth taking over low-fi intense punk. Satan by Schleim-Keim is ska punk with a very low-fi feeling to how they are explaining who they think of as a modern Satan, with slightly better production this could have been a huge floor filling hit.
Lachleute & Nettmenschen by S.Y.P.H. is dark twisted stormtrooper punk with a marching beat and squalls of guitars getting ever more intense as the vocals get more desperate. Es Brennt by Hans A Plast is a spoken word piece with minimalist backing that seems to be about love across the nationalities that slowly builds towards a cataclysmic finale. Sense by Torpedo Moskau has the chill of worry about thermo-nuclear destruction with some dubby drums and the sort of riff that UK Subs love to use, this would sit well next to Warhead.
Bis Ans Ende Welt by Der Moderne Man has a similar feel to X-Ray Spex with some cool sax and a dance infused bassline, that the guitar rounds fire off of, this also sounds more produced than many of the other songs on this compilation.
The compilation close with Der Grosse Mafioso by The Wirtschaftswunder an astonishing punk song that uses timpani, trombone and grand piano etc, to extol all the reasons they are horrified by the mafia running their town. This song makes me want to hear what else the band came up with, this has a wonderful classical prog punk edge that is original and compelling. There is a great live video of the song on Youtube that is well worth finding.
Find out more at https://shop.tapeterecords.com/v.a.-barfuss-in-scherben-4576 https://www.ventil-verlag.de/titel/barfuss-in-scherben/ https://www.facebook.com/tapeterecords
