Maraudeur

Reviews

Maraudeur Flaschentäger LP

MARAUDER’s Flaschentäger is an absolutely mesmerizing collection of ten short and straight-to-the-point post-punk jams. Though the term post-punk is very ambiguous and rarely gives any idea to what to expect, I’m happy to say that this album turned out to be the kind that perfectly fits into my personal idea of what the term implies: an immense and somewhat liminal vibe created by the perfect alignment of tastefully minimalistic elements. With its catchy hooks, beautifully layered guitars and bass, and lovely sparkles of synth lines, Flaschentäger is one of those albums that invoke “in-between” emotions and mental states that I haven’t found the right words for yet. Sure, you can dance to it. But it’s also good for laying in bed and watching the ceiling for a while. Can’t recommend this one enough.

Maraudeur Puissance 4 LP

MARAUDEUR returns with their first new music following their killer 2017 LP, with the group since relocated from Geneva to Leipzig—the new wave of Swiss wave, or Neue Deutsche Welle twice removed (borders are just social constructs). Vocals in alternating German, English, and French, all generally delivered with the detachment of announcements repeated in a subway terminal, backed by BUSH TETRAS/ESG-descended rhythms via clockwork-ticking drums, elliptical bass grooves, and judicious stabs of single-note razor wire guitar, with those carefully plotted sonic angles then warped under a constant buzz and warble of primitive synth. For such a wound-up record, Puissance 4 still manages to feel coolly loose and nonchalant; tracks like “TWYWYS” and “Es Ist Kein Stehlen” juxtapose restless KLEENEX-ish punk energy with an electronically-damaged art school oddball vibe that owes more to the first CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE single than any sort of mannered, dead serious German post-punk/synth wave tradition. Hot as hell.