WOLF CITY

Each new Amon Düül album comes with a style change. This one comes with a tighter rocking sound, a focus on songwriting, mellotrons, Eastern flavours and the complete array of styles that Amon Düül had used before. Often the whole lot is crammed into one single track.

The album is rather short and takes a difficult start. The first two tracks are fresh and original but they are sung by Renate and her strained vocals are difficult to digest. While she is mostly in tune this time, her unexpected wails and weird modulations may be original but they hardly make sense to me.

The album takes a radical turn for the good with Jail-House-Frog. Driven by a catchy riff it goes back and forth between trippy psychedelica and theatre music extravaganza. The focus and energy of the band is perfect. The fuzzy delay guitar of Wolf City is even catchier. Its one of the first Amon Düül songs that got me into their unique sound. Next to Can, there is little music from the era that resembles this, but this sound has sure lived on in alternative rock, shoegazer and indie. I'd suggest to check out Loop's album Fade Out if you want to continue this trip.

Wie der Wind takes a more electronic stance and wouldn't be out of place on a Popol Vuh album. Indian percussion, eerie synths and a distant reverbed violin. Also Deutsch Nepal counts as a highlight for me. It has a gothic majesty and a big theatrical feel, not in the least due to the solemn rhythm and recited German lyrics. The album ends with a more folksy tune that delivers the mix of folk and psychedelic rock that they tried to achieve on the previous album.

Given the short length and the opening tracks that fail to appeal to me, I can't allow for 4 stars. But it sure comes close and this album can serve as a perfect introduction to Amon Düül. If I ever get my hands on the bonus tracks I might upgrade it eventually.