Nitzer Ebb “That Total Age” 1987. I am in a *mood* today and I finally have this on vinyl (and I’m pretty sure an original issue) – I first  got a copy in ’87 on cassette (which I still have), and then on CD sometime in the 90’s. It remains one of my favorite releases from that era. It is relentless, dark and angry EBM industrial dance. That Total Age was Nitzer Ebb’s debut album. I’m not sure if the LP charted but the single “Join in the Chant” went to #9 on the US dance chart in ’87; it’s one of my favorites on the album – the lyric “muscle and hate” floats into my brain more often than you’d think. Another lyrical line “To the left! To the left!” leads off the track “Violent Playground,” another top pick though not released as a single. The other singles that were released, “Let Your Body Learn” and “Murderous” are also fantastic. The tracks are repetitive but they are supposed to be – that’s the nature of EBM: throbbing, hardcore and hypnotic, a way to turn off the brain but absolutely not fall asleep or go comatose, rather a heightened awareness but dulling of the senses. When we saw them perform in 2021 I danced about 3 miles worth of steps, emerging a blissed-out sweaty mess. I also saw them play back in the summer of ’90 when they toured with Depeche Mode but I didn’t have a fitness tracker then (they literally didn’t exist) but I’m guessing it was a similar experience.