The Notwist, Oval Space

The Notwist are quiet masters of reinvention and innovation. Hailing from Weilheim in Oberbayern, Germany, they began life as a punk band. In the mid-90s, though, the group underwent something of a transformation, abandoning shredding riffs and thudding bass drums in favour of a scuzzy college-rock sound. Their 1995 album, 12, first brought the band to the attention of an international audience, and remains an important landmark in flannel-clad, slacker-rock.
For all its appeal, however, 12 remains a little derivative. Fortunately, the same cannot be said for their 1998 follow-up, Shrink, which combined jangly riffs and weary vocals with computerised beats that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Boards of Canada record. It is the band’s 2002 release, Neon Golden, however that remains their masterpiece: a richly textured and perfectly executed synthesis of alt-rock and electronica.
After Neon Golden, the band waited six years before releasing The Devil, You + Me, a subtly emotive and delicately rendered album which proved well worth the wait. This year, the Notwist returned with their eighth studio album Close to The Glass which updates the sounds of their ‘00s albums, whilst retaining their charm, intelligence and idiosyncrasy.
Although they’ve been remixed by the likes of Four Tet and Caribou, and received considerable critical acclaim in the music press, The Notwist remain vastly under-appreciated. They are set to play the Oval Space on October 29, a rare opportunity to catch one of alt-rock’s most enduring talents.