GIRLS UNDER GLASS CYKLUS ALBUM CELLAR DOOR, DEPENDENT RELEASE: JANUARY 31, 2005 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 18, 2005

This album really did nothing for me the first few listens through and it still is pretty average when you consider what's going on. Imagine if Dance or Die embraced guitars, simplified their arrangements and decided to write songs about growing old, love, darkness and emotional breakdown. You'd have "Zyklus". I also wonder just how much influence Peter Spilles had on their new work as there is a decidedly Project Pitchfork tone to more than just the lead single "Ohne Dich" (featuring his vocals).
Perhaps it is the far superior side project Trauma which makes me feel so conflicted about it all. "Zyklus" has evolved for me, at least, into a truly guilty pleasure. A record to play when everyone else isn't around. Perhaps it's because I'm fiending for a new Sisters album that the metal-like guitars on here don't bother me as much as everyone else I've played this for. I find myself jauntily rocking out to tracks like "In Die Einsamkeit" and yes, as much of a power ballad as it is, "Whatever Makes You Happy". The Girls utilize the guitars on their record as skillfully as La Floa Maldita do, which you don't get everyday.  
The aforementioned Trauma seems to have been assimilated into the current Girls under Glass sound. "Deliverance", "Wonderworld" and "I'm Alive" certainly make it appear so. The female vocals, however, really could have been done without. They push some of the songs dangerously close to hair metal territory. Watch it.
Ten albums in, Volker, Hauke and Axel seem to have found something to focus their collective talents on. This is an album which requires a very specific type of person to enjoy it. Ignore the press release which speaks of club hit after club hit; there is much introspection and soul searching going on with Girls under Glass these days. Perhaps their next album won't take four years, eh?

PETER MARKS