Biography
The German pair 39 Clocks formed their outlook in the waning years of the 1970s yet steered clear of punk entirely, drawing instead from Dada principles, rockabilly echoes, and the experimental fringe of the Velvet Underground. They rejected conventional structures such as proper names and choruses, which helped estrange hometown crowds while their releases drew scant notice at the time. Recognition arrived later; although no further LPs appeared after 1987, the opening pair—Pain It Dark from 1981 and Subnarcotic from 1982—became reference points for collectors seeking unconventional, inventive post-punk. Tracks from those records surfaced on anthologies and playlists, prompting reissues, and the 2019 retrospective box set Next Dimension Transfer, issued by Tapete, secured their standing within the post-punk lineage.
Their history traces to the mid-1960s, when Jurgen Gleue and Christian Henjes first crossed paths as children in Hannover, Germany, and discovered shared passions for comics, substances, filmmaking, and music. Various bassists and drummers joined them in groups throughout the 1960s and early 1970s until the pair concentrated their efforts as Killing Rats near the close of the decade, coinciding with punk’s arrival in Germany. They cast themselves as anti-punks, incorporating vacuum cleaners into performances, mounting strange presentations with mummies, adopting numeric aliases—JG-39 for Gleue and CH-39 for Henjes—and generally provoking audiences expecting Sex Pistols replicas. Their approach fused rockabilly drive, Velvet Underground abstraction, and garage-rock edge, all conveyed with a detached, sardonic tone. Although some material was captured during the Killing Rats period, the inaugural single, 1980’s “DNS”/“Twisted & Shouts,” appeared under the 39 Clocks name.
Recorded in a Hannover studio, the debut album Pain It Dark arrived in 1981 as a lean, angular affair, with JG-39 and CH-39 handling most instruments and Christian Kuschel supplying drums on select tracks while a drum machine covered the remainder. Subnarcotic followed swiftly in 1982; again the duo managed the bulk of playing and vocals, aided on drums by Kuschel and Rüdiger Klose. The record pushed further into abrasive, expansive territory as the pair distanced themselves from punk conventions. Live appearances continued to puzzle listeners until the group disbanded after performing at Hannover’s Psychotic Splash Festival in 1983. Gleue and Henjes pursued separate paths, the former forming Exit Out and the latter launching Beauty Contest. Collaboration proved difficult to abandon, however, leading to a 1987 return for 13 More Protest Songs, an unruly set blending psychedelic noise folk with Velvet Underground-derived eccentricity. The reunion proved brief, after which both pursued individual artistic and musical endeavors—Gleue chiefly as Phantom Payns, Henjes across multiple projects.
The 39 Clocks tale remained an obscure post-punk aside until renewed interest surfaced. De Stijl issued the compilation Zoned in 2009, followed in 2012 by Bureau B’s reissues of the first two albums. These editions strengthened the group’s profile, which expanded further as songs appeared on collections such as 2015’s Cherrystones Presents Critical Mass (Splinters from the Worldwide New-Wave, Post-Punk and Industrial Underground 1978–1984). In 2019 the band collaborated with Tapete on a comprehensive anthology, Next Dimension Transfer, encompassing the opening two albums, an unreleased 1981 live recording, the 1987 reunion LP, and a revised edition of the 1985 collection formerly titled Cold Steel to the Heart and now retitled Reality Is a State of Mind, accompanied by extensive liner notes that mirrored the duo’s Dada-inflected sensibility.
Their history traces to the mid-1960s, when Jurgen Gleue and Christian Henjes first crossed paths as children in Hannover, Germany, and discovered shared passions for comics, substances, filmmaking, and music. Various bassists and drummers joined them in groups throughout the 1960s and early 1970s until the pair concentrated their efforts as Killing Rats near the close of the decade, coinciding with punk’s arrival in Germany. They cast themselves as anti-punks, incorporating vacuum cleaners into performances, mounting strange presentations with mummies, adopting numeric aliases—JG-39 for Gleue and CH-39 for Henjes—and generally provoking audiences expecting Sex Pistols replicas. Their approach fused rockabilly drive, Velvet Underground abstraction, and garage-rock edge, all conveyed with a detached, sardonic tone. Although some material was captured during the Killing Rats period, the inaugural single, 1980’s “DNS”/“Twisted & Shouts,” appeared under the 39 Clocks name.
Recorded in a Hannover studio, the debut album Pain It Dark arrived in 1981 as a lean, angular affair, with JG-39 and CH-39 handling most instruments and Christian Kuschel supplying drums on select tracks while a drum machine covered the remainder. Subnarcotic followed swiftly in 1982; again the duo managed the bulk of playing and vocals, aided on drums by Kuschel and Rüdiger Klose. The record pushed further into abrasive, expansive territory as the pair distanced themselves from punk conventions. Live appearances continued to puzzle listeners until the group disbanded after performing at Hannover’s Psychotic Splash Festival in 1983. Gleue and Henjes pursued separate paths, the former forming Exit Out and the latter launching Beauty Contest. Collaboration proved difficult to abandon, however, leading to a 1987 return for 13 More Protest Songs, an unruly set blending psychedelic noise folk with Velvet Underground-derived eccentricity. The reunion proved brief, after which both pursued individual artistic and musical endeavors—Gleue chiefly as Phantom Payns, Henjes across multiple projects.
The 39 Clocks tale remained an obscure post-punk aside until renewed interest surfaced. De Stijl issued the compilation Zoned in 2009, followed in 2012 by Bureau B’s reissues of the first two albums. These editions strengthened the group’s profile, which expanded further as songs appeared on collections such as 2015’s Cherrystones Presents Critical Mass (Splinters from the Worldwide New-Wave, Post-Punk and Industrial Underground 1978–1984). In 2019 the band collaborated with Tapete on a comprehensive anthology, Next Dimension Transfer, encompassing the opening two albums, an unreleased 1981 live recording, the 1987 reunion LP, and a revised edition of the 1985 collection formerly titled Cold Steel to the Heart and now retitled Reality Is a State of Mind, accompanied by extensive liner notes that mirrored the duo’s Dada-inflected sensibility.
Albums
