LSW Mir Tut Alles Weh

We’ve patiently waited after LSW’s 2019 debut “Life Style West” and it was more than worth it. The Düsseldorf group is blessing us with their sophomore work “Mir Tut Alles Weh” — Everything Hurts. But why does it feel so good?

This 11-track double LP is guaranteed to be a hit in your local Stammkneipe. Packed with forward-thinking nostalgia, poetic impressions of western decadence, LSW are certifying that punk remains posh in the Federal Republik of Germany. In an undeniably candombléan set up, Leonard Horres, Sebastian Welicki, Gregor Darman and Aki Vierboom continue their weird world building with a more mature sound. A holistic, detailed production that leaves you finding new elements at every listen.

Broken only by occasional melodic whispers, Horres introduces us to his city with ecstatic reiterations of his deepest, most deconstructed and sarcastically self-depreciating narratives. Dampened, forward-moving, industrial rhythms, orchestrated upon with live instrumentation and spherical synths pull us back and forth between dirty streets and the light clouds above. All with that chique nonchalance we cannot withstand.

Is this the new Deutsche Welle? Or eclectic Angstwave at its finest? Whatever,