Phallus Dei isn’t just the debut album for Amon Düül II (an immediate spin-off of the Munich-based Amon Düül collective) but one of the most important albums of the German Krautrock movement of the ‘70s. Released in 1969 with a futuristic mindset, Phallus Dei sounds completely in line with the post-punk and new wave records released a decade later, many of which were admittedly influenced by Amon Düül II. The music ranges from clanging garage rock (“Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren”) to psychedelic campfire music (“Luzifers Ghilom”) to long rumblings and drones that flow with dynamics that shift at a moment’s notice (“Kanaan” and the 20 minute title track). The vocals range from wordless to chants to druid-folk harmonies (“Henriette Krötenschwanz”) to crazed shoutings made all the more intimidating by the tough syllabic cadences of the German language. The hypnotic spell of something as otherworldly as “TouchMaPhal” is both primal and farseeking. Yet this unusual group was just getting started.