‘Ein ziemlich guter freund der eigentlich, gar keiner mehr ist, beflügelt kaffee verschüttet’(Verschüttet) / ‘A pretty good friend who actually isn’t one anymore, inspires spilt coffee’ (Spilt)

Misere (Misery) are from Berlin, and if you didn’t know this before dropping the needle, your radar would definitely be heading that way from the very opening chords.  Their debut album is post-punk that readily embodies the arty inclined, austerely agitated spirit that their home city seems to so richly inspire.

The spartan, crystalline guitar is imbued with an eerie, otherworldly chime, while the moodily limber rhythm section locks-in with an unerring metronomic crispness.  The coldly detached German vocals then begin to weave their magic, beguiling in their emotional remoteness.  Melodic yet just shy of spoken word, they conjure a fractured, almost hallucinatory tableau of anxiety and isolation.

The palette is such an economic one that the subtle flares of invention that strike throughout do so with an arresting clarity.  From the enticingly layered vocals that erupt amid Flüchtigkeit (Volatility) to the ethereal chant that defines Edel (Noble), the spell is a hypnotically alluring one.