Anika may have spent significant amounts of her life in England, but Berlin is the basis of her sound. There is the dubbed-out wobble of Metal Box-era PiL but taken to East Germany and dyed sheet metal grey. “Love Buzz” is a Shocking Blue song that was famously covered by Kurt Cobain, and now absolved of any color by Anika. This sounds like it was given the Grimm Fairy Tale treatment, run through a filter of krautock, Nico, and cabbage salad. Yet there’s something funky to its automaton clanking. This would be a Top 40 hit on the radio station after the robots won the war. The buzz is grim but it leaves your head ringing.
“Love Buzz” is taken from a covers EP that Anika is releasing on Stones Throw on April 16. Listen to “Love Buzz” and “In the City” below the jump, alongside your preferred flavor of Bavarian beer and black bread.
