Waffle

They're not actually German, and they're not actually time travelers from the year 1982, but Belgian electro-clashers Ringel-S could have fooled me. They have the right sunglasses as well.

I saw Ringel-S at the 4th Heaven & Hell Darkwave mini-festival on Friday. I was there because my friend Danny's band Swansdown were opening, and I was kind of curious about the headliner, veteran Goths Clan of Xymox. Swansdown were pretty good and had the good sense to bring dancers so we'd have something to look at other than their mugs. Xymox turned out to be very similar to Swansdown (probably the other way around, natch) but more seasoned, professional and bombastic. Unfortunately they went onstage at 12, at which point I was already quite knackered and didn't feel like listening to any more music, so I left. If they'd come on two hours earlier I probably would have loved them.

I'm not sure Ringel-S, who came on between the two other bands, properly belonged on the bill as they are a lot lighter in tone. But I loved them instantly. They get that Kraftwerk style and know how to turn it up to eleven. Jeroen and I both bought different editions of their demo CD - so far, my favourite track is "Sex auf DVD" from the blue version.