Franz K. - Sensemann (1972)

Peter Josefus - bass, voc

Stefan Josefus - drums

Mick Hannes - guitar

SENSEMANN was seemingly released privately by the band at first, and was soon taken up Philips who repackaged it in a really nice Witt cover. It featured just two side-long tracks offering a great deal of freedom for invention, with aggressive German lyrics and similarly angular freaky guitars characterising their sound. There are also sizeable instrumental breaks that are top-notch Krautrock progressive. A psychedelic hard-rock twist on Ton Steine Scherben perhaps, it's a record that's full of invention and surprises.

(Crack In The Cosmic Egg)

Sensemann is the first album by the German band Franz K. The band plays in a guitar-bass-drums trio set-up. Their strong anti-capitalist lyrics more or less place them in the German polit-rock scene. There are two side-long tracks on the album The first track is mostly bluesy rock with some jazzy elements. The music is played in an energetic way and has this great Rolling Stones 'Midnight Rambler' vibe. The second track is quite a monster. Within one minute you go from The Guess Who-type rock to '21th Century Schizoid Man' mayhem. After a few minutes the sky has cleared and an almost Black Sabbath-ian grunge riff sets in. There are a few guitar lines vaguely recalling the German band Vita Nova. Next, a razor-edged guitar assault pops up which reminds me of Guru Guru, T2 and Black Sabbath all at the same time. After some eight to nine minutes a pedestrian beat announces the arrival of the vocals. The vocals are less in your face and more symbolic this time. The last part of the track is more jamming and repetitive, but still quite cool. A great album if you like guitar-led underground rock. (Sjef Oellers 21-March-2001 )