
Visit the museum in Munich dedicated to him and his work and please invest in a Winterzahnstocher (Winterized toothpick). It’s a conventional toothpick with a little piece of fur on one end.
Doomenfels’ approach to their art is in the Valentinian tradition. Take songs, albeit in Swiss dialect, with words like «Wahrschinli isch scho laengschtens alles gseit, aber nonig vo allne» (Everything’s probably already been said just not yet by everybody).
You probably never heard of this Fels-rocking quartet before, and that should wake up your dormant spirit to discover the un-old. Dominic Oppliger (guitar, vocals) is the wild-at-heart leader of this irreverent group which grew out of an initial solo project into a four-headed band. His soul brothers in this project are Vincent Glanzmann on drums (formerly with Kasho’gi, Franky Silence & Ghost Orchestra), Lukas Mueller on bass (Fai Baba, Arthur, Arthur T. Fever) and Jonas Zollinger (Yakari, Galopp), the groups wordsmith in tongue twirling and surprisingly witty Schwiizerdeutsch, considering the well-documented limitations of the idiom. Moreover, it’s all brilliantly enhanced with psychedelic sound forays and sweeping sonic innovations. The medium is the message here. Although the band happily tells about the bright skies and pitch black shadows – you don’t say - of Swiss everyday existence. To call their lyrics just ‘ironic’ would be missing by a wide shot - they’re refreshingly serious about it too. Dominic Oppliger’s relentless drive to experiment is a given and he leads you into musical territories as diverse as that of Grizzly Bear and Slint, Animal Collective or lo-fi Sigur Ros.
They’re a band in the spirit of Karl Valentine who reminds you that «Today is the good old times of tomorrow». Honor that spirit and check out this band. You’re doomed if you do. But damned if you don’t.
