The Neue Deutsche Welle was a peculiarly disparate movement. Germany’s answer to the concurrent post-punk and no-wave expanding the peripheries of punk in Britain and the States, the German New Wave of the early eighties encompassed a wide scope of styles, ranging from Einstürzende Neubauten’s industrial racket, Der Plan’s Dadaist theatrics, to the spirited synthpop of Nena. This mosaic of diverse hybrids were all held together (in addition to an ironic and subversive fascination with the Cold War machinations of the era) by the distinctly taut and sturdy rhythm of the German language, creating a shared terse sensibility that uniquely bristled with disquiet.

“I want action…something WILD!” Little else is stated on Wilde‘s various social media, a plea that’s both utterly direct in its affirmative desire yet singular and impressionistic enough to evoke whatever yearning your heart craves. A pop duo from Munich and Zurich, redolent reductionism is imbued in every aspect of debut EP RAWWR‘s delivery, from their hyper-stylised visual aesthetic to the pared-down production of its seven tracks. Invoking the rich heritage of Teutonic art-punk that precedes them, Wildes instil the many facets of the NDW into a singular release that’s cohesive in its sound and unwavering in flourish.

RAWWR deftly balances avant-garde inclinations with impeccable pop k̶r̶a̶f̶t̶ craft that never cancel each other out. Krautrock textures are deployed on the gritty wash of ‘Räuber’ (perhaps a nod to pioneering NDW synth duo’s ‘Der Räuber und der Prinz’), a fog of abrasion that feels lifted from Faust IV that breaks out into sudden bursts of jerky pop-rock before being subsumed back into its buzzing dirge. ‘Leopard’ prowls along with strutting menace, a killer riff from the Link Wray school of guitar attacks sawing through cavernous bowels of pulsing drum machines and hazy feedback, and sonic traverse takes over from the sharp exercises in pop on the roaming ‘Krake’. Meaning octopus in German, the track analogously shifts and evolves across its six and a half minutes, pulling in found sound, electro, funk and ambient swirls that acts as the EP’s heady centrepiece, demonstrating aspirations beyond piquant hooks.

When Wildes wanna do pop, by god they nail it. ‘Badeinsel’ is a joyous zest of steel drums and infectious solos that coast along with breezy cool like the rubber floats in its accompanying video, the nonchalance that drips acerbically throughout touches on a picture of idle luxury akin to the banal narrator of The Kinks’ ‘Sunny Afternoon’. Italo-disco shimmers and pulses on the driving ‘Treibhaus’, an electric charge of sequencers and synth stabs that harness the focused minimalism of Conny Plank’s work on D.A.F.’s famed ‘Virgin trilogy’, and the EP ends on a note of laconic drama on the warped synthpop of ‘Karambolage’, a finale of digital crunch scoring thematic collision with pithy bounce.

In just one EP, Wildes presents a record fully formed, a visual identity totally realised, and manages to coalesce the vivid diversity that made both the kosmiche and NDW scenes so exciting and pioneering into one debut work that never feels unfocused or cluttered with its broad pallet. RAWWR is an exceptional piece of work where pop accessibility and experimental vigour dazzle and stimulate in thrilling equilibrium.