All

Album review

Germany's Urlaub in Polen has always been a hard band to pin down. At their core, they are a two-man guitar-and-drums unit, though both members also handle the myriad synthesizers and ambient electronics that shimmer and buzz through their hypnotic songs. Just after the release of 2011's Boldstriker, the Cologne-based duo of Georg Brenner and Jan Philipp Janzen called it quits, having logged a decade's worth of interesting albums that merged post-punk, Krautrock, and propulsive electronic experimentation. Reuniting after a nine-year gap, they return with their sixth album, All. If anything, the ten-song set feels even tighter than the band's earlier releases, paring away some of the harsh and cavernous sounds of Boldstriker and presenting a leaner, cleaner sort of minimalism that plays to their strengths. Almost playful in a noirish sort of way, All's front half is peppered with a series of brief tracks that run the gamut from ambient sound design to scuzzy electro-funk. Lengthier cuts like "Impulse Response" and "T.H.D.T." are centered around smart motorik grooves that feel pleasingly locked-in with both players delivering distinctive, warmly captured performances. Stretching out somewhat on "The Witcher," Urlaub in Polen verges on psychedelia with washes of effects, extended jams, and the sudden appearance of a slinky saxophone solo. The album ends with "Proxy Music," an engaging bit of sleek, melodic Europop that falls somewhere between Ulrich Schnauss and Giorgio Moroder's darker elements. Overall, it's a pleasing amalgam of styles, paced with great care, suggesting that some time away from the project did wonders for Brenner and Janzen's creativity.

© Timothy Monger /TiVo