lambretta does it better
formed in 1999, cobra killer are germany’s gina v. d’orio and annika trost. both originally signed to alec empire’s brutal electro label, digital hardcore recordings (in EC8OR and shizuo respecetively), the duo have previously released three albums under the cobra killer name – the self-titled debut, ‘the third armpit’ and last year’s ’76/77′, assisted in part by shitkatapult‘s t.raumschmiere and released through monika. their sound marries an obvious love of retro psych-rock with contemporary berlin electro-pop, a healthy dose of the former lifts them above the stock-standard sound you might expect from the latter. and just when you thought your preconceptions were serving you well, they release their fourth album ‘das mandolinenorchester’ – wherein they re-record their seven year back catalogue sans-electronica, instead favouring mandolin, double bass, piano and percussion. according to textura.org, this side-swerve comes from logical roots: “apparently trost’s great-grandfather was a conductor and violin teacher of helmut zacharias, who started his career in d’orios’s grandfather’s orchestra, the lubo d’orio orchestra”.
this eastern folk take on hitherto electro-based compositions is far more successful that it might sound on paper – it’s original, compelling and short enough to keep you hooked without getting tired. stand outs for me included the opening re-working of my personal favourite from the back catalogue ‘heavy rotation’, plus ‘l.a. shaker’ and the above mp3, ‘lambretta does it better’. far more than just a gap-filler, ‘das mandolinenorchester’ stands tall on its own merits and leaves you wondering where the cobras are going to strike next.
extra: watch the video for ‘mouth open eyes closed’ from ’76/77′ here