Search - X Marks the Pedwalk :: Freaks

Despite a silly name that conjures up images of a pirate narrating a drivers' ed film, Germany's X Marks the Pedwalk construct some rather serious music (let's face it, with song titles like "Swastika" and "Battered Babies," they're not exactly in line to play the Catskills). This U.S. reissue of their 1991 debut, previously available only as an import, was long overdue, and those familiar with the smoother industrial techno-pop of more recent XMTP discs like Drawback are in for a surprise: This band used to scream and pound and pummel as competently as any other group brought up on a steady diet of Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly. Yeah, sure, some of the material may sound dated, but tracks like "Church for Snow White," with its Klinik-like percussive assault, and the atmospheric "Repression," with its looped samples of Martin Luther King Jr., are industrial classics. Sadly, their early club hit "Abbatoir" is missing from this reissue, but those who already own the import will want this disc for the four bonus tracks Metropolis Records so generously tacked on. --Steve Landau