Monday's Long Song

 

A few weeks ago I featured Der Moderne Man at this place. Today, another forgotten band from Hanover – a city in northern Germany which, apart from Hans-A-Plast and the unspeakable Scorpions, has otherwise contributed little to German music – takes its place.

39 Clocks were formed in 1977 as Killing Rats, split in 1983 and reformed in 1987 for a brief comeback. They released three albums and various compilations. Their sound was dark and a bit amateurish. But they are also the ones who, throughout their brief existence, consistently played – as they themselves put it – a psychedelic beat. The result sounds as though Suicide and the Velvet Underground were jamming to a beatbox in a damp cellar. Nevertheless, their songs have lost none of their fascinating simplicity and noise to this day.

39 Clocks - A Look Into You

39 Clocks

Back from the festival in Mannheim with burning feet and too less sleep but filled with lots of new experiences. I have to admit that a lot of bands were inspired by Velvet Underground and making their very own sound. Nevertheless they name this band as a main inspiration. This brings me back to a German band from the early 80's that was influenced by the Velvets. They didn't made it great but there were a few records back in the early 80's that I listened often to. 39 Clocks are named as the German Velvets but this ain't true. They based their songs on the weird sound of the Velvets and tried to make their very unique sound of it. Sadly they are forgotten during the last decades but their sound is still fresh and and the hight of the times when they released it. Something weird and wonderful I used to listen to at that time.

Enjoy.