Baader Meinhof. Baader Meinhof. 1996. Hut Records.

 Luke Gaines’ weirdly erotic look at Baader-Meinhof from the inside is appropriately claustrophobic, and, in tone, conspiratorial, drawing us in by means of Gaines’ keenly deployed pop acumen. His over stylized vocal delivery might prove for some listeners an affectation too far but it’s not the first time a rock and roller squeezed notes out of the side of his face in the effort to feign tough guy romanticism. The hint of cultism suggested by the group’s terrorist cell history gives a feeling of existential discomfort that, together with the song’s flamboyant disco rhythmic texture, is akin to feeling trapped in an after hours nightclub after having ingested too much of the wrong drug, then compulsively, repeatedly, replaying the  song.

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