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Kling Klang, "The Superposition"
With a name like Kling Klang you might expect a band to have some sympathies with a very famous seminal German band. This would be a fair assumption, and whilst Kling Klang prefer to look the part of kids from seventies Brit sit coms rather than showroom dummies, they are so deeply rooted in Kraftwerk and Neu! homage that it'd be painful if they weren't so damn good.
What they add to the mix are full on rock dynamics, largely courtesy of their puffing Chris Cutler-clone drummer Ali McDonald. First time I witnessed their triumphant analog synth fanfares they were supporting Trans Am in a sold out hometown Liverpool show which head Klangster Joe McLaughlin promoted. It was a tough act for Trans Am to follow. Since then they've rolled out the synth banks to Manchester a couple of times and been a hoot each time. Whilst at least one detractor was heard to mutter curses about Yes at their show last week at The Brown Barrel, a much better comparison was Kraftwerk meets Metallica, which still sells them short as comparisons so often do. The Superposition is their third EP, following two collectible seven inches and a few compilation appearances. It's also by far their best, and the opening track "Heavydale" is the one where Joe whips out his old guitar and rocks out plenty. "Superposition 1+2" is a droning and rumbling underground radioactive trashtrain ride, but a rhythmic pop sensibility is never abandoned. "Radium" is a pure orange sunburst of uplifting timewarped splendor, strangely Elizabethan keyboard chops suggesting the score that a babbling gaggle of monkeys wrote for a Shakespeare play conspiracy. Wherefore art thou, babyface? What Kling Klang achieve is a melding of musics that thirty years ago might well have seemed to have been in opposition. Perhaps with tongues in cheeks, they call themselves Kraut punks, and gleefully trash any last wall between prog and punk, two genres which never were as mutually exclusive as some fusty purists would like us to believe. This has been far and away my most listened to single from the first two months of 2003. Mogwai have asked Kling Klang to open for them on their upcoming UK tour, so be sure to get to the shows early! 
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