‘So schön kann das leben sein! Ohne angst, mit viel selbstvertrauen, und den andern bleibt nur der zweifel und das scheitern’ (Die Idioten) ‘Life can be so beautiful! Without fear, with plenty of self-confidence, and all that is left for others is doubt and failure’ (The Idiots)

Hailing from Berlin, and featuring members of Aus and Liiek, Benzin (Petrol) have delivered a spikily bracing debut album, Treibjagd (Hunting).  As twelve tracks unleashed in under 15 minutes indicates, this is an album delivered at a furious, helter-skelter pace.  Together with the cleanly taut guitars and surf-tinged melodies, it evokes thoughts of the first emerging US West Coast hardcore of the early 1980s, given a more angular, contemporary garage punk twist.

The coldly detached, semi-spoken German vocals though imbue proceedings with a delightfully off-kilter edge that is rooted in the more experimental traditions of European punk.  A fractured, agitated stream of consciousness unfolds, equal parts disdain and frustration at the state of our atomised society.

And it is a hyperactive combination that really works rather well.  Personal highlights range from the spartan restraint of Nichts (Nothing) and the darkly tense melodicism of Botschaften (Messages) to the bass propelled Zeichen Der Zeit (Sign Of The Times) and the irresistibly strutting title track.