Carambolage were one of the first German New Wave bands to consist exclusively of women. The formation of a so-called "women's band" was never the intention. Rather, the punk alliance around Britta Neander, Elfie-Esther Steitz and Angie Olbrich grew organically out of the Ton Steine Scherben environment and it was their shared interest in musical experimentation among friends that connected them. After the first demo tapes had been sent out, Burkhardt "the Censor" Seiler got Carambolage a gig in the trendy scene club SO36. At a time when the "New German Wave" subsumed everything that could be marketed as a national product with this label, the trio relied on a very unique style: With their self-titled debut Carambolage, recorded in the summer of 1980 by Rio Reiser and R.P.S. Produced by Lanrue and released on the Scherben label "David Volksmund Produktion", they could not be forced into any NDW marketing concept. The combination of Elfie's strange "fantasy chords" on the guitar and a voice that earned her the nickname "the sparrow of Fresenhagen", Angie's organ as a counterpoint and her unmistakable bass lines and of course Britta's tireless work on the drums resulted in a "colossally inventive sound" that was to characterize the first album. Accompanied by weird organs and rumbling drums, Elfie spits her lyrics into your ear in a way that is so simple and forceful that they linger for a long time. Pieces like "Die Farbe war Mord" give an idea of a feminist consciousness, the interpretation of which was never initiated by Carambolage, but nevertheless led to a classification as "lipstick feminism".
