Lärm – Straight On View (LP 1986)

Fuck… Where do I even begin… I think I heard about Lärm back in 1987, and bought the lp by mail order from Rock Uglen that same year. Unfortunately the record had suffered in the mail and had cracked from the center to the edge, so I had to record it to cassette before it was totally destroyed. So for many years I lived with a cassette with a noticable crack every time the lp had revolved. I had the iconic cover pinned to my wall.

I think it was through Napalm Death interviews that I learned about Lärm. Their speedy hardcore was hyped by many a band at that time, and since I was heavily into fast bands like Wehrmacht and Cryptic Slaughter I was rather stoked to hear Lärm. And I wasn’t disappointed!

Their fast punk music has followed me throughout the years, first on that shitty cassette, then on the discographic cd Extreme Noise which unfortunately omitted the live tracks from side B of the Straight On View lp.

And now. Finally. 30 years after the release, and 29 years after I received my broken lp in the mail, I have gotten my hands on another copy.

My old band Sardonic Death wrote a song called Terror Lärm in homage to Lärm, and my current band Kusari Gama Kill has released an EP with the same title.

https://www.discogs.com/L%C3%A4rm-Straight-On-View/release/1832030