The Notwist

The Notwist formed in 1989 in Weilheim in Oberbayern, Bavaria, Germany, founded by brothers Markus Acher (guitars, vocals) and Micha Acher (bass), along with drummer Martin Messerschmid.^[1] They emerged from the local punk and hardcore underground, and their early recordings reflected the aggressive, guitar-driven sound of that scene.

Despite their hardcore roots, the Acher brothers brought a wide range of early influences to the band. Markus Acher has cited Neil Young, Mike Oldfield, and Dinosaur Jr. as formative listening, a combination that points toward the band's later integration of melodic directness and sprawling sonic texture.^[2] This commitment to unlikely influences would come to define their working method: absorbing from sources outside the expected canon and reconstituting them in entirely their own terms.

Through the 1990s, the band evolved rapidly. Their 1995 album 12 marked their first significant incorporation of electronic elements, and the arrival of keyboardist and electronic musician Martin Gretschmann in 1997 deepened their sonic experimentation. The jazz-inflected, glitch-laden Shrink (1998) established their reputation in European indie circles.^[1]

International recognition came with Neon Golden (2002), a landmark album that blended heartfelt indie pop with glitch electronics and earned the band a substantial following in the United States and beyond.^[1] The albums The Devil, You + Me (2008) and Close to the Glass (2014) continued their critical ascent, with the latter nominated for the IMPALA European Independent Album of the Year.

After Gretschmann's departure in 2014, the band expanded their live lineup to include Cico Beck, Theresa Loibl, Max Punktezahl, and Karl Ivar Refseth, among others. Their 2021 album Vertigo Days was followed in 2026 by News from Planet Zombie, recorded in one week as a live ensemble at Import Export in Munich, returning to a communal recording method the band had not used since 12 in 1995.^[3] News from Planet Zombie was also the first record on which the songwriting was fully collaborative, shared between Markus Acher, Micha Acher, and Cico Beck rather than centered on Markus alone. The album includes a cover of Neil Young's "Red Sun," an arrangement the band first developed for a theatre production directed by Jette Steckel, demonstrating their ongoing engagement with theatrical and interdisciplinary contexts alongside their studio work.

Markus Acher has described the band's work as deeply personal while also responsive to the world. His reflections on time, impermanence, and collective identity have informed the band's most recent material, often drawing on imagery of the Isar river in Munich as a metaphor for change that is constant but irreversible.^[3] The band has also pursued numerous side projects, including 13 & God, a collaboration with US hip-hop collective Themselves, and connections to the Weilheim indie scene that also produced Lali Puna and Tied + Tickled Trio.