Kreidler - Tank (Bureau B)

It's an approach that saves on studio bills, with their last album Mosaik 2014 recorded in five days. This time around, with the band members now split between Berlin and Dusseldorf, recording was spaced out over a month but there's still a feel of 'turn up and do it' to the six tracks here.

While spontaneity can be a great thing, there's always a trap that speed and fluidity may result in the lack of a critical overview of what you've recorded to make sure that it's as good for the listener to hear as it was for you to play. Alas, Tank falls into that trap. Tracks start off with promise then go nowhere, falling back into meandering grooves of variable interest over their 6-7 minute length.

The least-flawed effort is probably 'Gas Giants', where simple drum patterns underpin a moodily pretty melange of vaguely Eastern slightly distorted strings and interesting little dashes of things like flute.

The band also seem unsure whether they're trying to do industrial or synth pop. 'New Earth' goes for the former, kicking off with a fabulously dark rhythmic pattern that unfortunately doesn't move on. The neu pop of 'Jaguar' and vaguely funky 'Saal', meanwhile, are only briefly enlivened by anything of interest (a few tango inflections in the former, a fine thudding bassline in the latter). 'Evil Love' completes the line-up with a so-so Kosmiche vibe laid over a vaguely interesting grinding beat.

OK as background music in some groovy store perhaps, but as foreground sound I'm sorry to say it's 'nein danke'.