Die Nerven - Fake

Stuttgart post punk/noise rockers Die Nerven have a new record. Watch out. On ‘Fake’ the band’s fourth full length release they return once again to their core, punk/post-punk influences. Anyone who has listened to the band knows the severity they bring and the bleak austerity that underlies a dark day brand of rock that hasn’t been this urgent in some time. From the album’s first track, it’s clear that Die Nerven is running some kind of shock and awe campaign. Swimming and disoriented, ‘Niemals’ tends to leave the listener seasick; punishing guitars laid over a leering bass line mark ‘Frei’, the rawest on the record; and that bass takes the stomping lead on ‘Aufgeflogen’ vaguely suggesting a military bearing. On a precious few tracks Die Nerven relent and lift their foot up off of the pedal, like ‘Roter Sand’ which is reflective and slow, but it too elicits a familiar feeling of seasickness. This unsettled sensation under every track is what makes Die Nerven and ‘Fake’ such a great, comprehensive package straddling traditional/modern. Even when they relent from their angular, pure punk stance, there is an eddy of distortion underneath that imposes discomfort onto the listener. All the lyrics on ‘Fake’ are sung in German, but a grasp of the language should hardly be viewed as a barrier to appreciating these songs. These are in the universal language of disaffection, packed with such curdling aggression and attitude that you don’t sing along with them. You feel along with them. Of the lot of neo post-punk bands out there, Die Nerven is among the best, and ‘Fake’ stands apart as a worthy starting point, not just in their catalogue, but as a representative of the genre’s zeitgeist. Somewhere in the band’s catalogue they’ve transcended from product of influences, to influencers, and on ‘Fake’ it’s clear as day how and why.

Track Listing:-

1 Neue Wellen
2 Niemals
3 Frei
4 Roter Sand
5 Alles falsch
6 Dunst
7 Aufgeflogen
8 Der Einzige
9 Skandinavisches Design
10 Explosionen
11 Kann's nicht gestern sein
12 Fake