So how do you review foreign language records? With some - thinking of assorted French rappers here - the flow and metre almost makes it a non-issue that the actual content doesn't make sense to a non-polyglot. With Hamburg teens 1000 Robota it's very much the music, and proof that there is still change to be had from the long thought drained dry well of post-punk.They're a well drilled trio, full of stop-start interplay, deep dark basslines and three way declamatory, seemingly sloganeering vocals and staccato, coruscating riffs, awkward in a just about controlled way in the way of first album Futureheads infused with Black Lips' boggle eyed spirit, making it still sound relatively fresh despite what's been done to the genre in the last five years. It kicks off almost literally with the Fall-esque threatening chanting and martial drumming of 'Heute' and takes in goth guitar squalls on 'Moral' and 'Diese Brille', scrappy garage rifferama on '1234567' and a high wire tension in 'Trocknet eure Tränen' that could even bring back into vogue the latterly dreaded word 'angular'.Trying not to let the language barrier get too much in the way, as you suspect that'd spoil things if you found out what the lyrics were about, 1000 Robota are almost definitely a band who'd be electrifying live. Trying to pack it all into a record and still having energy to spare having only needed to use 26 and a half minutes of it here. This is abrasive art-rock that doesn't see the point in extending what it has to say beyond its limits, somewhere between scrappily endearing and impressive at its application of the dark arts for a band with an average age of just under 18, yet that same head down no-nonsense new wave means it gets a little wearying being shouted at in German for a good length of time. Like not totally dissimilar (check '48 Stunden') scratchily rough edged trio the Cribs it may well be that three or four full lengths in they work out their craft and get terrifyingly accomplished, in which case this is an impressive suggestion of things to come. 74%1000 Robota on Myspace