Last Saturday, as an Easter egg I had the pleasure to see Absolute
Body Control playing live in the Blue Shell in Cologne. The band was formed already
in 1980 by Dirk Ivens and two friends. Some of you may know Dirk as founder of
EBM cult group The Klinik and also later of Dive and Sonar. Eric Van Wonterghem
replaced the original synth player. Dirk and Eric are still setting landmarks
in the EBM scene after 30 years. However, Absolute Body Control represents
their softer and more pop orientated side. In the early eighties the band just
released a single "Is There An Exit?" and a handful of tapes.
Despite a number of songs which easily
keep up with other synthpop mile stones
like Soft Cell or Human League they remained unknown. However a couple of years
ago their whole output was rereleased on vinyland CD and a growing fanbase was eagerly
waiting for new songs as well as live performances.
And Absolute Body Control is delivering. The gig was about
an hour filled with their mostly uptempo minimal synth songs. Dirk was singing
and shouting with great enthusiasm, while Eric provided an excellent minimal synth
background.
If you have the chance to seem them just do it! But before
you might enjoy their sound at home… you will melt away!
