This German trio serves up some gritty and tuneful indie rock, finding a wondrous middle point between
the Fall and
Pavement, while adding a dash of
Wedding Present for good measure. L'Etat et Moi serves a potent mix of those bands, hacking off
Pavement's knack for indolence while doing away with
the Fall's vitriolic diatribes.
Jochen Distelmeyer's are entirely German, but given the unintelligible babble common amongst many indie bands, this makes no difference to those who don't speak the language. Not surprisingly, this record fell off the U.S. indie radar quite quickly. That's a shame, as
Blumfeld were just as talented and infectious as any of the top-shelf mid-'90s bands. ~ Andy Kellman