Die Roten Punkte
Die Roten Fahrten
Independent


Die Roten Punkte (The Red Dots) are a brother and sister act rather in the mould of The White Stripes. Astrid and Otto Rot, created by musical comedians Clare Bartholomew and Daniel Tobias, perform brief pop-punk thrashes in amusingly German-accented English.

This album is made up of an entire studio session, the super-short songs interspersed with rambling diversions and sibling tiffs as the expansive and ambitious Otto - "Now we are really making rock and roll history!" - becomes increasingly jealous of the more pragmatic Astrid's flirting with silent producer Ben: "You make a mockery of his expertise!" Their cover of the Burt Bacharach classic Close To You becomes increasingly awkward as the sweet-voiced Astrid sings it seductively for Ben, and Otto's guitar interjections express his furious annoyance.

Their energetic tracks I'm In A Band, We Go On Tour and I Like To Rock (sample lyric: "She's got good rhythm!" "And he's got good technique! Whoo!") are identical musically, with only the lyrics altered. You Make Me So Happy is a surprisingly tuneful experimental new wave track featuring exotic keyboard sounds and hubcaps as percussion. I Love You, And It's Normal is an unconvincing denial of incest, swelling chords escalating to passionate gasps and yelps.

One hilariously optimistic track, Best Band In The World, would not be out of place on Triple J. Its modest title is reminiscent of The Hives proclaiming themselves 'Your New Favourite Band' during their brief troubling of the charts.

Die Roten Fahrten is laugh-out-loud funny the first time you hear it, particularly Otto's earnest declaration about the sandwich. However, having heard the jokes once, there's no reason to listen to it again. My advice? Save your money to see Die Roten Punkte live when they perform at the Fringe Festival.

Rosie Clarke