The Notwist “News From Planet Zombie” 2026. Marr Music. Limited edition indie record store orange vinyl variant. Even though it’s been two months since we were in Berlin, I’m still slogging through our vinyl haul from that trip. We picked up The Notwist’s latest LP upon the recommendation of the very odd record store owner (33rpm Records); I have never heard of this Munich-based band but they’ve been around for a LONG time. From their Bandcamp page: “The Notwist, formed in 1989, then consisting of Martin Messerschmidt, and brothers Micha and Markus Acher — released their self-titled debut album on Subway Records a good thirty years ago [in 1991], a unique tightrope walk between melodic independent, metallic rock and explosive hardcore parts…” Their most recent release News From Planet Zombie certainly doesn’t have any hardcore but it is really really lovely, leaning heavily into the melodic indie pop vibe (“The Turning” feels super early aughts alt/college radio: lo-fi angular jangle with some retro xylophone-esque bleep-bloops that eventually descend into a bit of a rager), though some tracks do rock out, like “X-Ray” plus there’s some indie grit on “Who We Used to Be” as well. The Notwist cover Neil Young’s “Red Sun” and it’s a shimmering atmospheric delight. They also cover the Lovers 2009 “How the Story Ends” – a band and song I do not know but Bandcamp  tells me they are indie folk-pop group hailing from Portland, Oregon by way of Athens, Georgia and Notwist’s version is great: the lyrics on News From Planet Zombie are all sung in English and I could really only hear any obvious German accent on that cover and musically it is exceptionally layered; landing both sweet pop and experimental art rock. For all of 33rpm Record dude’s weirdness, he certainly steered us in a good direction with this album.