1984 was an awesome year; my mom had just kicked me out, so I moved from L.A to S.F and lived in peace punk bliss. During this time, I really started getting into positive punk & some of my favorite voices were female. I mean, when I first listened to the Cocteau Twins, I almost lost my mind; and without question, Siouxsie and the March Violets were different drugs unto themselves. There was one band that combined everything I loved about positive punk into one sonic force, and that was Germany’s X-Mal Deutschland. Anja Huwe, the vocalist, had an ethereal but very powerful voice that carried me off to another planet. I could not understand a word she sang, but I felt every word in my blackened heart. Musically, this band had the power of Joy Division but also had the transcendental quality of floating spirits. As a 15-yr-old, I would read about their shows in England and the music press would say that live, they were otherworldly. To me, that would not be hard to believe, because even on record this band pushed the limits. Now check out this off the chain X-Mal Deutschland video essay!
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