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Hello and thank you for reading. Today I am writing about something pretty random. I haven’t done that in a while, but I am really excited to finally have a copy of this record! I don’t know a ton of German bands. Pogar Records was my introduction to German hardcore. The EPs released by VELLOCET and MALINHEADS on Pogar have always been some of my favorite 7”s, ever. For a while I didn’t know many other bands from Germany but over the years I’ve learned about some others like SCAPEGOATS, UPRIGHT CITIZENS, MANIACS, SCHLEIM-KEIM, OHL, and most recently, THE BUTTOCKS. But one of my favorite German bands that is not on Pogar is BLUTTAT. Many years ago, when Carly was working at Sorry State, she was playing their second LP when I came to hang out one day. At first, it didn’t really catch my ear. BLUTTAT has a really interesting sound. Some of it is really “poppy” sounding but then you get blasted by pure hardcore. I think some pure hardcore hit and that’s when my ears perked up and I had to know who she was jamming. The band has some elements of like new wave at times, especially on their 1986 LP. Even though they lean a lot more into that sound on this record, I still really enjoy it. The first record is really good as well. It’s kind of noisy and a bit sloppy. The vocalist constantly bombards you with lyrics as well, which adds to the rippingness. The sound reminds me a bit of ELECTRIC DEADS (Denmark) or WAX (Sweden). The first track off the 12” sounds quite a bit different from the rest of the record, especially with a different member of the band on vocal duties.
Anyway, I think BLUTTAT’s real gem is Nkululeko. There is something so perfect about this record to me. The bits between each song really enhance my listening pleasure. Since there is a language barrier, I am not sure what the context of this stuff is. Some of it is so cheesy sounding that I would naturally think it’s a joke or something… but then the passages continue for a considerable amount of time. This, along with their “poppiness,” makes their hardcore sound really stand out. It makes it sound even more nasty when you hear that fused with these other unique elements. It’s funny, I think if a band had a sound that was kind of all over the place like this one in this day and age I would probably dislike it haha. On this record, some parts really remind me of KALASHNIKOV (Denmark) actually, and I really like that band. I had no idea how cool the packaging was going to be on this LP when it arrived in the mail, so that really added to the sweetness of finally securing a copy. Alright, I think that’s about it for today. Thanks for reading as always. And thank you Carly, for showing me this killer band!! Peace.