The Düsseldorf band Kreidler could have had a nice jazz career, at least that is the impression that comes to mind when listening to the track “Im Betriebs (IV)”. The band produces a kind of FusionLoop – a timeless piece of mood music that is just looking for a sampler with related contributions. All the wonderful devastation of punk, post-punk and eighties pop were history at that moment, but in the art schools and universities of this country these guys were striving forward and outward who wanted to rediscover new beginnings for themselves, in this case Thomas Klein, Andreas Reihse and Stefan Schneider as well as Detlef Weinrich aka DJ Sport.
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The long-play debut RIVA (1994), recorded on a 4-track tape recorder, borrowed heavily from Krautrock and soundtrack aesthetics, played with spoken words and referred to a young literary scene in which the band’s political influences can also be located. Tracks like “Beginn/Pressure” and “Cafe dello Sport” mark the feeling in schematic rock spaces, the electronics seem to be waiting in the next room.
In the track “Boccia”, first released on the mini-album SPORT by the Cologne label Finlayson, she peeks out briefly, a hello from the home recording disco. The 15 pieces collected here from Kreidler’s early years all have the charm of a homemade intensity and sometimes awkward clarity. The structures are just beginning to dance. And with WEEKEND 1996 the journey to another place began, but that is a new story for a new day.
This review first appeared in Musikexpress 11/2025.