Jello Biafra on Guru Guru – Hinten (1971)

I have about a hundred thousand favorite records. But because you’re based in Germany, I’ll pick a German band this time. The album was released on the legendary Ohr label, like so many albums of those pioneers that are gathered under the term “Krautrock”. In their prime, Guru Guru were the wildest of all these bands, and they were the first that I heard of. I found Hinten in a thrift store in my hometown, Boulder/Colorado. When I saw the cover, I thought: “What the hell is this?”

I had a listen, and at first it all sounded like hard rock. But then frontman Mani Neumeier suddenly shouts, “Electric junk!”- and hell breaks lose. It still was heavy, but not like in Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. There was improvisation and the songs were longer than I was used to, just downright jazzy. I didn’t really like jazz, but this was a crossover between jazz and heavy rock. Really cool. And the songs just grew more and more strange. The first track on side 2 is called “Bo Diddley” and of course it has nothing to do with the music of Bo Diddley. It was all space-rock where Mani now and then says “Bo Diddley”. Back then I was just discovering drugs, and this record and song were a great introduction into drug-music. Hinten has quiet moments too, but it’s not nearly as smooth as many of the other Krautrock classics that I discovered after this record. I got tired of most of them- but Hinten always works for me.

by Jello Biafra