Xmal Deutschland - Early Singles 1981-1982

Gothics - a time before the word goth had even taken shape - believed in the do-it-yourself punk ethos that anyone could pick up an instrument. Gray clouds were starting to form and in the unlikely city of Hamburg a brazen and haunting gang of five women formed Xmal Deutschland. As any true punk would Xmal Deutschland s members Caro May Rita Simon Manuela Rickers Fiona Sangster and Anja Huwe started the band despite any previous musical experi- ence.The Schwarze Welt seven-inch was released on the local punk label ZickZack in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. There s an urgency in it s repetitive dirge a swirling mania that persists on the b-side with Die Wolken and Großstadtindianer whose crude synthesizer noises escalate in tension. Most of all Huwe s uniquely venomous German vocals quickly became embedded in the unbridled and burgeoning scene of glamorous gloom.Punk s independence from the stiff grip of tradition allowed the band to find solace in an…