Die Benjamins In 10 Jahren / Pas de Deux 7″
Synth-spiked German post-punk casting backwards glances to the pop-leaning (but still properly asymmetrical) side of the Neue Deutsche Welle—think ÖSTRO 430, IDEAL, NEONBABIES, etc. That was enough to pique my interest after cueing this single up with zero background context, so imagine my surprise when I clocked that DIE BENJAMINS’ vocalist Annette Benjamin was the same Annette who had been the singer (and occasional saxophonist) for late ’70s/early ’80s femme-punk paragons HANS-A-PLAST! Her voice is as powerful as ever here, with all of the shouty defiance and boundless energy that made “Rank Xerox” and “Sex Sex Sex” such indelible rippers, but while these two songs are clearly informed by her musical past, they’re definitely not shackled to it. Thick, distorted bass drives the quirky/arty A-side “In 10 Jahren,” periodically dissolving into washes of echoing electronics straight out of the modern Leipzig school (not unlike a punchier/less coolly detached MARAUDEUR), with the darker and more desperate atmosphere of B-side “Pas de Deux” only heightened by Annette’s soaring, passionate pleads. Totally unexpected, in the best way.