Austria has always been an interesting place. Part empire, part colony, always enigmatic – any of its citizens are holistically dedicated – to, if nothing else, central progression. A lot of what they aren’t are the outside influences they deal with. The band Naked Lunch is no exception – using an English rock context to enhance their Germanic seriousness. Naked Lunch’s five-point-fifth album hints why original post-punk created emo; ripe with metallic, dragging rhythms and strained lyrics that today’s bands eventually took advantage of.
What does the indie world expect out of Central Europe? It seems like a lot – ever since The Beatles crashed Hamburg and would seem like a healing force to the continent. Since that never happened, we expect more of a fight to stay above water than anything Americans take for granted – pop is the curse in the States, independence is the envy of the EU. This is where Naked Lunch comes in.
Assimilation = when you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Their album, This Atom Heart Of Ours, attaches itself to the element that made the Beatles fun, and what started to bridge continents is present here. Self-imposed heroism dresses their most magnetic track, "Military of the Heart". Lead singer Oliver Welter proudly combines humanism and romance ("I crossed this planet in a day") on a rollicking post-jamboree. The rest of album are various degrees of pop-capitalism from a hardened perspective of relative English achievement.
The best part of Naked Lunch’s, This Atom Heart of Ours, is that it’s easy to pick out influences. Just as they blend the centrality of Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother into the title, they blend an establishment of rock that’s easy to listen to beyond the meaning. It’s almost as if they’re bound by a lesson in their idols’ history repeating, but at least they know great places to emulate.
