Frittenbude and the Travelling Pub

The name translates roughly to "chip stand" or "fry shack," which is either charmingly unpretentious or an early warning that Frittenbude don’t take the whole thing too seriously. The Bavarian duo formed during a car ride—which tells you something about how their electropunk sounds: perpetually in motion, ideas sketched fast before the exit comes up. They were playing Frankfurt as part of a tour built on the premise that there’s something to gain from bringing electronic acts into pub venues rather than the standard interchangeable basement club. Earthy wood and sticky tables; music that would usually happen in fog and darkness. The contrast either produces something or it doesn’t.

With Frittenbude it tends to produce something. Their energy is too physical, too tangible, to dissolve into the abstract space of a normal club night—the room pushes back and they push harder. French DJ Tom Deluxx was on the same bill, adding a different flavor of controlled European disorder. Some nights the concept and the music align and you end up somewhere you didn’t expect to be. This, from what I heard, was one of them.