Album Review: Avalanche Party - ''Der Traum Uber Alles'
Derived from the wild North Yorkshire Moors, Avalanche Party return with feral follow-up, Der Traum Uber Alles. And for the record, it's a real humdinger.
The alternative music imprint of Avalanche Party begins it's next stride forward. Under the banner of the Kartel Music Group, the Yorkshire lot from the sprawling moors release their second record, Der Traum Über Alles - a rampant reply to their debut 24 Carat Diamond Trephine in 2019. During a time in which bands were evidently shut off from rehearsing due to the pandemic, Avalanche Party frontman Jordan Bell wrote DER TRAUM ÜBER ALLES on his left arm in permanent marker every day: Loosely translated from broken German as ‘The dream above all else', it gave Bell the daily reminder to persevere through a immense creative life despite the limitations of location.
It seems amongst its noise, immediacy was and still is, a part of the records' conception. Pushed back by studio floodings, pandemic isolation and piercing together hard-fought ideas, the idea of dispelling it further in production was just not an option. Discharged in a ten-day recording session, Der Traum is a sheer brazen force of energetic punk and garage-punk that more than matches the onslaught Bell and co were aiming towards.
An onslaught of defiant colour and passion, the record hallmarks all of the bands' distinctive styles. You've got the frenzied New Wave Nureyev Said it Best, you've got the powerhouse off-kilter punk rock of Shake the Slack, a tumultuous sound perhaps remiscent of one Opus Kink without the bones and horns.
The record isn't devoid of Jordan's defunct sax either - Slinky and Noise Between Us being his fervent moment in the sun. Nor is Jordan's buzzing guitar, a supercharged drone swerving this way and that in its flurry of riffs and melodies in Collateral Damage, all the while Joe's bass using all its might to calm the calamity. Adkin's intoxicating synth adds depth tenfold on Chainz, a nice departure from the fast and furious.
For all its merit, it's contagiously funky and fun in its design; with every ounce of creative spirit poured into it. No doubt Bell's temporary pen marker tattoo giving him that daily reminder to keep going - despite all the odds.
Words by Alex Curle
