Nunsexmonkrock by Nina Hagen (1982)
#1
Normally when I do the “older albums” list, I try to prioritize albums that I had discovered within the last 12 months. In the case of Nunsexmonkrock, I actually discovered the record back in 2021, but had such a renaissance with it that it felt wrong to not include it in this list. Hagen has a vocal range that is almost unparalleled - she can harken to an alien, gross old man in her lower register on “Smack Jack,” but can also squeal and scream in her upper register on tracks like “Cosmic Shiva,” named for her daughter who was an infant at the time. Throughout the record, Hagen sounds a bit like a gothic, German Kate Bush as she sings about aliens, Jesus, drugs, and whatever else crosses her mind.
Even aside from her wiley vocals, she truly does take post punk to some unexpected places - from Chinese pentatonic music to reggae. Hagen also has an extremely creative referential relationship to rock music that reminds me of Patti Smith: she interpolates Jimi Hendrix on the electrifying opener “Antiworld,” the B-52’s and David Bowie on “Iki Maska,” and The Doors on “Cosmic Shiva.” On the album’s bonus tracks that had been released prior to the album, she even does fantastic German covers of “White Punks On Dope” by the Tubes and “Lucky Number” by Lene Lovich. As a statement, Nunsexmonkrock celebrates rock music as much as it subverts it, and I am beginning to feel that it could be one of the most important post punk releases of the 80’s.