Yolek
May 19, 2026
Funk / Krautrock / Pop
Is this Khruangbin? Nope, but if you like them, you’ll dig this. Kraut-Funk – that’s our preferred term. The Karl Hector adventure continues with their fourth studio album. 'Yolek' digs deeper into the Krautrock history embedded deep in the soil of their native Munch – three of the most influential bands of the 1970s experimental German rock scene sprung from there: Amon Düül, Popol Vuh and Embryo. Drawing from those bands’ homebound and worldly influences, JJ Whitefield and Zdenko Curulija conceived and produced this kosmiche-werk. Influenced by these musical heroes, and following the path of 'Non Ex Orbis,' Whitefield and Curulija shape a sound that takes the experimental approach of the classic Krautrock era and slides between beat-heavy drone and spacey, prog-rock suites. 'Yolek' symbolizes an innocent way of composing and improvising music, free from the influences of our contemporary environment, preserving a childlike way of hearing sounds in their unfiltered purity. “Some will classify this as a retro, but for the band it simply is a form of creating, Whitefield states. “We’re drawing from an established musical vocabulary which was popular at a time in Germany, when underground musical culture had its creative peak.”
