Klaus Johann Grobe Credit: Courtesy of Artist

As Klaus Johann Grobe, Swiss musicians Sevi Landolt (organ, synths, vocals) and Daniel Bachmann (drums, vocals) play groove rock that feels full despite its minimalist arrangements. Because they sing in German and build their songs atop sparse, hypnotically repetitive rhythms, Americans tend to describe Klaus Johann Grobe’s music as Krautrock, but the group begs to differ: “We’ve never been that much into Krautrock to be honest,” Landolt told Pitchfork in 2014. “It’s superb when it works, but it has never been something we’ve been too enthusiastic about.” On their recent third album, Du Bist so Symmetrisch (Trouble in Mind), they foreground their love of disco, house, boogie, and other U.S. dance subgenres that emerged after Roland introduced the TR-808. The battery of retro synths animating “Siehst du Mich Noch?” prove that boogie’s classic sounds, in the hands of a group as sophisticated as Klaus Johann Grobe, can feel as new and vital as anything currently in the Top 40.   v

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