Jennifer Shryane managed to convince Blixa Bargeld, singer and founding member of the Berlin-based music collective, Einstürzende Neubauten (Collapsing New Buildings), to write a Vorwort (Preface) for her book, where he outlines the development of this research.

Shryane claims this publication is the ‘first comprehensive examination in English’ (p. 3) of Neubauten's work and states that for more than 30 years, the musicians of this band ‘have been able to keep their artistic integrity and retain a serious approach to experimentation’ (p. 3). Moreover, she highlights the band's broad stylistic output, which could not be fully covered in the book. While she primarily explores Neubauten's multiple influences and cultural contexts, her research does not contain a concise biography of the group. Consequently, for anyone not familiar with the band, the study of additional sources is recommended, as it will contribute to a better understanding. The author describes her methodology as ‘rag-picking’ through different sources, including her own material (interviews, pictures, etc.), which was collected between 2004 and 2008. By doing so, two keywords dominate the book: ‘destruction’ (Part I and Part II); and ‘construction’ (Part III).

Part I consists of four chapters that deal with Neubauten's philosophical and musical influences. According to the author, Neubauten's philosophy is based on the ideas of Walter Benjamin, Emil Cioran, Joseph Beuys and Ernst Bloch. She also focuses on the group's historical context in post-war Germany and their close relationship to architecture, which is reflected in the band's name and links them to the West Berlin squatter community. Neubauten's musical influences are shown to range from Polit-Rock (Tone Steine Scherben) and German electronic music (Can, Kraftwerk, Neu!) to the sound innovations of Luigi Russolo, Pierre Schaeffer and John Cage. Schaeffer's quote, ‘we are still born in do-re-mi’ is central to the book, and was adopted in the subtitle.

Shryane's use of the term ‘Deutsche Rock’ instead of the more derogatory term ‘Krautrock’ seems to be a good choice, although grammatically ‘Deutsche Rockmusik’ or ‘Deutscher Rock’ would have been better. In this case, however, she claims to be relying on the terminology of Annette Blühdorn. Shryane also takes a closer look at the Industrial and Punk styles that are often applied to Neubauten's music but which, according to her, offer too narrow a description. Finally, the importance of West Berlin (Kreuzberg) as the band's setting is also highlighted.

Antonin Artaud's performance theory, the ‘Theatre of Cruelty’, provides the theoretical backbone for Part II. In five chapters, Shryane shows how the group uses different ‘against strategies’ to deconstruct the conformist approach towards popular music. In Chapter 5 (Strategies Against the Body), the group is placed alongside the development of contemporary dance within the context of post-war performance art. In Chapter 6, she discusses the band's nonconformist approach to creating sound by using alternative instruments (metal percussion), but also underlines the fact that the group remains linked to the rock tradition by its use of electric guitars.

Bargeld's long-term role as a guitarist with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is only a side issue in the book, and specific background information on Neubauten's performances at unconventional sites like the Mojave Desert or the ‘Goldene Saal’ in Nürnberg are omitted, despite the fact that they could probably fill an entire book. Chapter 7 examines Bargeld's strategies against the conformist use of the human voice. Apart from vocal experiments, the predominant use of the German language is regarded as an ‘anti-strategy’ that makes a statement against English-dominated mainstream music. Screaming also is a vital part of Bargeld's vocal expression. Shryane, therefore, dedicates an entire chapter (Chapter 8) to this aspect.

In the last chapter of Part II (Strategies Against the Text), the influence of Heiner Müller is explored. According to Bargeld, he has been a father figure to the band since their first collaboration in 1988. Furthermore, in this chapter Shryane also takes a closer look at Bargeld's lyrics; a notable example is the analysis of Neubauten's masterpiece ‘Die Befindlichkeit des Landes’ (p. 174–175).

Part III is based on Jacques Attali's text Noise: The Political Economy of Music (1977) which, according to Shryane, offers an excellent framework for Neubauten's rebuilding strategies. Attali claims that music should be considered a collective performance that uses local networks. This theory reflects the philosophy of Neubauten's ‘Supporter Initiative’ (2002–2008), which builds on the ground that was previously destroyed by the ‘anti-strategies’. Neubauten's main tool for this reconstruction is the interactive use of the Internet. This is supported by the fact that in 2002 the band managed to produce an entire album that was independently financed by 2000 supporters, each of them paying €35 directly to the band. In return, supporters were able to follow and influence the album's production process via a web stream. This collaboration also resulted in the private Grundstück concert at the Palast der Republik in Berlin (2004), where 550 supporters, including Jennifer Shryane, were present to listen to and interact with the band.

The book provides little information on Blixa Bargeld's personal life. However, an update on the band members' recent solo projects has been added to the final chapter. It contains some good examples of translated Neubauten lyrics, but the title ‘Haus der Lüga’ (the correct spelling should be ‘Haus der Lüge’) is constantly misspelled throughout the book. Overall, it was a pleasure to read and review this book because of its good structure and well-written introductory and concluding paragraphs. I envy Shryane's research into this exciting topic, as it sums up a variety of interesting aspects of post-war German popular music and culture. Unfortunately, the pioneering achievements of many bands mentioned in this book have been acknowledged outside Germany more than within. However, as Neubauten play an important part in the representation of experimental music, this book is an important contribution to the research of German popular music. It shows that there is little evidence for a musical identity crisis.