In the fall of 1979 the band Der Moderne Mann was founded in Hannover. After the release of the EP "Umsturz im Kinderzimmer" at Heile Welt Records the band was signed to the legendary NO FUN Records of Hollow Skai. The band's debut album called "80 Tage auf See", appeared in 1980. The reaction to this albumt was initially unenthusiastic.

 

In spring 1981 the single "Sandmann"/"Baggersee". met more interest. The leading German music magazin "SOUNDS" attested that the quartet has been delivered with the single "a good piece of German pop music."

 

"Unmodern" has been repressed now and contains as bonus the "Sandmann" EP!

Our take: Last week we covered the reissue of Der Moderne Man’s debut, and this week we have the German post-punk band’s follow-up, 1982’s Unmodern. I compared their debut, 80 Tage Auf See, to the pre-Joy Division band Warsaw, and like that band’s work, 80 Tage Auf See evoked a color palette of muted, dirty, industrial greys. Unmodern, however, is a Wizard of Oz moment that finds Der Moderne Man stepping into a world of full color. The production is clearer and brighter and the songwriting more varied and accomplished, infusing their take on classic post-punk with prog rock’s ambition and meticulous attention to detail. If you think that sounds like the formula the UK’s Magazine developed a few years earlier, you’re correct. Unmodern reminds me of Magazine’s first two albums, records that kept punk’s vitality while diving headlong into more ambitious waters. Unmodern is one of those records that will need a lot of play to reveal all of its secrets, but if (like me) you love a lush and ambitious post-punk album, that process will be a treat.