LP HANS-A-PLAST Ausradiert

"... While tens of thousands still revel in the sound of the debut album, the 1981 sophomore disc moves on from 1-2-3-4 punk to dissonant guitars, radical rhythm shifts, and increasingly avant-garde arrangements. Hans-A-Plast virtually explode with urgency on 2 as Annette's vocals alternate between a choirgirl and a caw, almost yodeling, singing enthusiastically of self-immolation or sending murder threats to (long since expired) actors. And then? A hiatus. 

Ausradiert is released in early 1983, another demonstration of Hans-A-Plast doing what they do best: ignoring what has gone before and going off at a new tangent. Gone are the sudden breaks and nervous shivers of the second album, ceding to a more conventional song structure and sharper production. There is a more typically eighties flair to the band's sound now, as the vocals and Bettina's drums swirl in reverb. Renate's bass slices like a knife and dual guitars ring out crystal clear. Lyrically, of course, nothing is off limits: Annette offers advice on how to be 'Gut im Bett' (good in bed), rails against the sanctimoniousness of Christianity; cannibalism, stalking, the list goes on -- The door closes on the band's No Fun label in the autumn of 1983. Whereas the first two albums sold over 100,000 copies worldwide, Ausradiert only manages 10,000. Ticket sales are down when the band hit the road in April and May (1983). This time around, Annette is pregnant, as Bettina was on the previous tour. The band begin to argue about which musical direction they should take in future. A sticking plaster doesn't stick forever. Echoing the name of the third LP, Hans-A-Plast find themselves ausradiert (erased)." --Max "Drangsal"