Camouflage

Unlike rock and pop's backwards peeking, nostalgic feelings do not so easily attach themselves to dance music. Without consulting the album notes, Spice Crackers initially generates the impression that a few young turks have been devouring their early Depeche Mode records. But Spice Crackers is actually a document from 1995 by a group of Germans. Making that adjustment, this is still an album from '95 that sounds resolutely like '81. Confusing. On the one hand, Camouflage employ elements of classic electro that have been handed down from Kraftwerk through to Matthew Dear. On the other, despite biographical assurances this is an important document, it quickly gets overwritten in memory by a dozen or so more innovative examples.