Meneguar, Woods @ Kulturbunker, Cologne

I guess that's what you call "to chill out" at a show. Yesterday saw yet another wonderful BBQ at the Kulturbunker in Cologne-Mülheim. The 50 Food Combo did this before and it's always a very nice and tasty experience. Some people showed up, they had tables and chairs on the rooftop and everybody was in a good mood. The food was great, although I only dug into the grilled veggie stuff. Oh, and there was a show taking place as well.
I can't remember the name of the first band, from what I heard they were German and played what I would consider to be old school screamo. You have to be considerate with how you label musicn nowadays so everybody understands what you are talking about, right? Had I said "screamo" everybody below the age of 25 would have thought this meant those horrible chartbands who play this crappy metal stuff with screaming vocals, hard and loud guitars and face paint all over the place. No, this band tried more to sound like the mid to late 90s version of screamo. Quiet parts which burst out into chaotic riffs with desperate screams (hence "screamo"). Still I didn't really get into it. That kind of music was never really my cup of tea and I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to grading performances like that one yesterday but I somehow felt bored.
That changed with the second band, Woods from NYC. Their setup for the show looked very interesting. Most of the instrumentation was simple: drums, guitar, bass, singers. But there was one guy who stood in front of a table with lots of technical equipment like foot pedals and - and that was what surprised me most because I'd never seen anything like that before - a mixing thing where you had two tapedecks instead of two turntables. Most of the time it was plain and simple yet wonderful and nice popmusic which because of the voice reminded me a little bit of Neil Young. But when they got into those long and epic parts which they streched on and on and on, that's where it got really interesting. The sounds the tapedeck guy created where fascinating. I could have watched this and listened to it for hours, but at some point they had to stop unfortunately. Great band, although I don't think this will work for me on a record.
Meneguar were up next and they blended into the middle of the two previous bands. Slightly chaotic with a hint of nice melodies. This wasn't your average chaoscore, this was a little bit more interesting. This is music I can listen to perfectly while watching the band play, but I don't think I'll ever buy a record. It had the groove and the melodies for a nice concert experience and that was enough for me yesterday. Combine that with the atmosphere for the BBQ outside on the rooftop, the company of nice people and friends and there you have a perfect summer evening in Cologne. What else can you wish for?

Almost forgotten along the way: H2O

I guess everyone experienced something like this at least once. There is this band everybody is talking about and all your friends encourage you to buy the record this band has put out recently. You then go and get it, you like it, but somehow it just doesn't stick with you. You bury it somewhere deep in you collection and after some time you start to forget about it. The band gets bigger, but because of the first impression you had of that band, you don't really bother to even listen in to their new records. The band plays shows every now and then in your hometown, but you don't bother to show up there because of the first impression you had years ago. And thenm, after years of ignorance you finally see the light because you gave their latest record a chance.
See, this is what happened to me and H2O, a band I always filed under the category of a rather boring and average attempt to mix punkrock with the attitude of New York Hardcore. I know that a friend of mine made a tape recording of their first 7" for me and that was some time in the middle of the 1990s. The sound was okay but I didn't really see why the band got so much attention. It was average punkrock and I assumed that people only liked it because the band was from New York and was in some way connected to the big names of the NYHC scene. In addition their band name sounded a little to preachy to me, a guy who was preferring beer to water at that time. It was all too stereotypical and cliché. So I never really bothered to go and see them play live, it was too expensive anyway as that was the time when the bands started to become too big for the small clubs and moved into bigger venues which brought along higher prices for the tickets. To cut it short, I never bought a record and I never went to a show by H2O.
And now after more than 10 years I got my hands on their latest record "Nothing To Prove" and I have to admit that I am impressed. Although I still remember the voice and even though the music sounds familiar this is something I never imagined. This record got me right from the start. Great music, pumping beats, there's atmosphere in every song. Party tunes all the way. And what makes this even more enjoyable is the guests on the recording. Sick Of It All's Lou Koller and Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba are the voices I recognized right away. This record truly proves that this band has nothing to prove. To noone, not even to me. I missed out on something over a long period of time and I happily admit my mistake.

In The Backyard Of The Record Collection (10): Black Train Jack - No Reward & You're Not Alone

There are some records that stick with you throughout time and you always like to listen to them every once in a while. Most of the time you recall the memories you made while listening to the music, sometimes you use it as a means to get rid off your frustration or simply for a change of moods. As I am writing this a person who has become a very good friend of mine will return to her homeland in just a few hours and when I get back home from all the farewell ceremonies I think I will once more put up Black Train Jack's records which always put a smile on my face every single time I listened to them.

I first saw the band play at a festival which was part of one of the first PopKomm exhibitions in Cologne in the early ninties. At that time I was hardly aware that there was other music in NYC apart from hardcore. That was everything for me and my friends. Hard, fast, loud, that was all we needed. So by the time we got to the show we had to realize that the first band already started. That was Ryker's who became the coverboys for German hardcore over the next few years. They were impressive, still we were there to see our heroes in Sick Of It All. But it was this happy-go-lucky singalong band with those nice melodies which stuck in my mind after the show. Yes, Black Train Jack managed to converted an audience of angry young men ready to let go of all of their frustrations in a huge moshpit into smiling, laughing kids who celebrated a huge party. I'm not sure if the majority of the people in attendance were familiar with the band - I wasn't - but it was awesome and it felt right. I still treasure the t-shirt I bought at that concert, although it starts falling into pieces.
A friend gave me a copy of their debut "No Reward" (1993) shortly after the show and it instantly became one of my favourite tapes. I have to admit though that it was hard to find my way into the music. But the way they change from rather hard and stomping riffs to wonderful yet simple melodies is brilliant. The intro is classy and I just realized recently with my growing interested that the used Lou Gehrig's famous retirement speech for the intro. What even more refreshing - today as well as it was back then - is that the lyrics are so positive it is very hard not to have a grin on your face. I guess my favourisong on the first record was "Leapfrog", I always liked those catchy guitar leads. Although it took me some time to find out that this song was sung by their guitarist who - something I found out a lot later - was in the great Token Entry before this. That's another thing which really distinguished the band from other groups. They were singing, I mean, their singer was capable of doing things with his voice I never really heard in a punk band. A cover of Bob Marley's "One Love" really completes a nearly perfect album. Be it fast numbers like "Guy Like Me", stompers like "This Is The Way", it all fits and creates a wonderful and positive atmosphere.

A year later they released their follow up "You're Not Alone" (1994) and with this one they reached an even higher level of positiveness (does that word exist?). The title says it all, right? This record will never ever let you down, no matter how hard you try to discard it. The opening track "Handouts" is pure happiness. The guitar lead is so catchy and wonderful. "I've seen you up, I've seen you down, I've seen you half dead on the ground...", I still get goosebumps when I listen to this. So simple, yet so great. Yet another coverversion on this one as well, this time "The Joker" by Steve Miller. Great songs like the fast "Lottery" or the thumping "The Reason" and on and on and on. And then they saved the best for last. "That Reminds Me", sung by guitarist Ernie again, starts off with a rather weird guitar intro which is then joined by an even stranger bass line but when they all join together it makes perfect sense. "I can't stay now, because I'm going home". I have been listening to this song hundreds, maybe even thousands of times and I never grew sick of it. Which is the same with these two records.

I managed to see Black Train Jack once more play live at Cologne, this time a headlining show at the "BüZe" in Ehrenfeld. I had to choose between them and a young and upcoming from the Stated called Green Day who played at another club in town. Still I went to see Black Train Jack once more and I think that was one of the best decisions I ever made. The place wasn#t sold out, maybe 150 or 200 people. But when the band entered the stage everybody was happy. I have never seen so many people smile during a show. Everybody was singing along, the whole room was moving and by the end of the night you could see satisfied and happy people leave the place with a smile on their faces. This is a picture I will always associate with this band and I am thankful I was able to experience this.
Unfortunetaly they never returned to Europe and I never heard of them again for quite some time. They played one of those farewell shows for CBGB's and I think The Gaslight Anthem drummer Benny told me that they still play shows in the New York area.

It seems I am not the only one who thinks highly of this band...

Deny Everything @ Bauwagenplatz, Cologne

It has been quite some time since I have been to two shows in one week and it has been even longer since I have seen two very good shows in just a few days. First there was the wonderful evening with our Greek friends from Düsseldorf at the "Sonic Ballroom" and then on Friday Troisdorf's best dancers Deny Everything were celebrating the release of their new 7" EP "Speaking Treason" (YoYo Rec.) with a concert at the "Bauwagenplatz".
It's always quite a gamble with shows at this location, you just never know what will happen. I'v seen some very boring stuff there, I've seen shows which were stopped because somebody felt discriminated, I've seen legendary performances by bands like Yage or Hanns Martin Slayer. And Deny Everything's performance will live on with the better ones'. The evening was perfect to hang around at the area which is covered by the "Bauwagenplatz" with all its caravans. The Sunshine Bar Building seems to have been renovated since the bar area now is a lot bigger (which led to the service being much quicker than before, at least that's how it felt for me). First up was some band whose name escapes me, but they didn't sound that good anyway. Typical punkrock with German lyrics, nothing special really. Just ordinary and so not worth mentioning at all.
The complete opposite can be said of Deny Everything. Although one can argue that it might be a little retarded to name a band after a song by the Circle Jerks, but they just know how to create a wonderful atmosphere for a hardcore show. This was what it is supposed to be. People were having fun without kicking each other's heads in. There was a mosh pit, there was a circle pit, but everybody was looking out for each other. Truly positive atmosphere there. The audience was having fun, the band was having a lot of fun, the music was brilliant and when it all ended shortly before midnight everybody left with a smile on their faces, something I hadn't experienced in a long time. In fact the last time I witnessed a positive hardcore show like this one was alomost 14 years ago when Black Train Jack played at the "BüZe" in Cologne-Ehrenfeld. Which reminds me that I should write something about the fabulous Black Train Jack records some time soon.
But coming back to Deny Everything, this is really proof for hardcore coming back to Cologne. With bands like them, Cobretti (who will release their album soon), Kingdom and so on, with concert groups like Hit & Run, there is a lively scene that slowly brings back what was going on around here 15 years ago. What's even more fun is to recognize that this "scene" is highly entertaining on the one hand but also aware of politics and actions. So it's not like the divisions which took place during the late 90s anymore and that's very nice to see.

Free Yourself @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

This one almost slipped away under my radar as I only took notice of it when I was reading a newspaper supplement at my parents' house over the weekend. Free Yourself have always been a band who I hold very dear. I can't quite remember how we met but the boys have been so kind to me to let me accompany them all across Germany when they played shows over the weekend at the end of the 1990s. They were always featured in Düsseldorf's Blurr Magazine and that's where I heard about their 7" first. I got a hold of a copy at a show in Cologne. I believe Snuff and Kick Joneses were playing at the Rhenania and Milto had set up his small table with a few copies of Blurr magazines and some records, one of them being Free Yourself's debut single. I think I bought all three Blurr Rec. products that evening and I also remember I had to leave early because I was still going to school in 1995. But the 7" completely blasted me away. Four great tracks with music I never heard before. I was so happy to ctach a glimpse of a live set at the first annual Fanzine meeting in Neuss where they played a few songs after they won the football tournament there. Good memories.
Over time we became friends and I started to join some of their weekend tours. The best one would be the trip to Minden and Bremen where they played with Winnipeg's finest Painted Thin in 1997. The three day trip with Greece's Stateless In The Universe (1999) was also a memorable one. The highlight came when A Modest Proposal were asked to join a four day tour which would take us through the south of Germany. Oh my, that was fun. We even managed to cover a song by Free Yourself for our show at Freiburg's KTS. I was also extremely grateful when Spiro asked me to become the new bass-player for Free Yourself when Kay left the band, an offer which I had to decline since I wanted to play with my own guys a little more.
So after some time Free Yourself just faded away. They never really called it quits and somehow there was always the chance for another show in my neighbourhood. That chance came yesterday and, oh yes, it was a blast. First up it was very nice to see so many familiar faces at a show again. This was almost like someone had stopped the clock and we were all taken back 10 years. So many old friends showed up to make this a memorable experience. The band looked slightly older - of course - but they still had it. I was even able to remember a few lines from the songs and so I was singing along some of the Greek lyrics. This was great. I didn't go inside to watch Oiro who I had seen quite a few times in the past few years, so instead I took the chance to catch up with what happened to the guys in Free Yourself over the past years. I hadn't seen Kay in a long time so it was a great pleasure to talk to him again. And I even managed to obtain a copy of their new three track CD which includes the wonderful song "Kuss", a song they already played in 2000 when we played with them.
It has been quite a while since I felt so good at a show.

A Day At The Record Store (IV) cont.

Just to finish this off here's some words about the 7" singles I got while being at the record store a few days ago.

The Ice "s/t" 7"
The Ice were roommates of ours when we still had our rehearsal room in Cologne Mülheim and that basically is the only reason I bought the record. Well, it's not as bad as it sounds when I say this, it's just that it's not my cup of tea anymore. When I was listening to the single at the record store for the first time I had the record player on 45 rpm and the intro on the A side sounded cool. Not great, but cool. But then the voice set in and it turned out I had the wrong speed. Well, at 33 rpm the intro wasn't as cool anymore.
The Ice play your normal type of tough hardcore with lots of mosh parts, breakdowns and hard streetwise lyrics. As I said, nothing really special, but I heard the guys are great on stage so when they come around your place you might want to check them out. The artwork of this 7" is a blast though. Great good looking stuff.

No FX "Singles Club #10" 7"
I somewhat missed out on this Singles Club thing that No FX set up a few years ago. You had to pay some money in advance and in return you got a 7" each month. That's how it was supposed to be but some things happened along the way, at least I heard and now it's only 10 singles (edit: turns out there were really 12, I must have missed something there). Still a great concept and I didn't have the money to join the fun. Well, now I have to hunt and search for the scattered EPs all over the place and for someone who still is refusing to use eBay this can be rather hard. But every now and then I find one of those little gems and at this visit there was another one. I also got another of the 7"s but when I got home it turned out I already got that one. Damn!

Me First And The Gimme Gimmes "Jerry" 7"
I love the concept of this band. Usually coverbands don't really kick ass but this one is simply a revelation. Each of their records deals with a different topic and every time they manage to sneak in some quotations of punkrock classics in their versions of classic pop and rock songs. To accompany their full length releases they also put out 7" singles with two songs of one artist on it. So this one is off from their "Love their country" LP on which they shred country classics by artists like Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, The Dixie Chicks, Hank Williams or Willie Nelson. The 7" features "East bound and down" by Jerry Reed, hence the title. The flipside is "I'm gonna write a song".
Now after 60s, 70s, R&B, musicals, country and a bar mitzvah I wonder what Me First & The Gimme Gimmes will be targeting next...

A Day At The Record Store (IV)

I haven't been to the record store in ages, it seems. So last week I decided it was time again to spend some money on some records and this is what I got in return.

No Use For A Name "The Feel Good Record Of The Year" LP (+CD)
I wasn't keeping track of these guys at all over the past few years. True, I was a huge fan back in the days and "Don't Miss The Train" is still one of my all time favourites ever. I also remember a brilliant live show at the "Underground" in Cologne where the whole audience just went berzerk for the entire set. But that was years ago and today I somehow lost my interest in most of the melodic punkrock bands mainly because the all sound the same, don't they? I know that argument is lame, but to me it's like that. There are no surprises anymore.
While saying that I know that that's true for this record as well but maybe because of sentimental feelings I still like it. It really is a feel good record.Nothing really changed over the years for Mr. Sly and his comrades, they still sound like 10 years ago. And in a way that's very reassuring and good. The record comes with a CD of all the album tracks. I guess that's one way of selling CDs to the kids.

Fine Before You Came "It All Started In Malibù" LP
Man, we love those guys. A Modest Proposal played two shows with Fine Before You Came from Milano, Italy a few years ago and we instantly fell in love with the band. While they are great musicians and composers who play a sound somewhere around the area of Braid and alike, they are also wonderful human beings, fun to talk to and hang around with. This is, I believe, their 2nd full length which came out on Strange Fruit Records, a label from southern Germany, not to be confused with other labels of the same name. So we were labelmates with them for a short time. They raised their level of excellence once more with this one. Jacopo's voice is just fascinating and really a thrill to listen to with the wonderful music pumping in the background. A great record and it's really a shame that this one was in the 2nd hand segment of the store.

Oiro "Vergangenheitsschlauch" LP
And once again the guys from Düsseldorf strike back with their way of playing northern German punkrock in the vein of all those "Jensen-bands" like Dackelblut, Blumen Am Arsch Der Hölle or Oma Hans. On their 2nd album nothing changed and I think it's better this way. They know what they are best at and they deliver. That's the way it should be. Although I initially bought this just because I know the people in the band this will become I record I like a lot, I am pretty sure that will happen.

Inferno "Pioneering Works" 3xLP
This was due for a long time now. Inferno used to be one of the first, if not the first hardcore band in the German scene. Their record "Tod & Wahnsinn" started it all here. That one is truly a classic piece of brutal early 80s hardcore music. I think I first got in touch with their music when I bought some compilation records of Mülleimer Records (who were then called AM Music). I then bought a CD which featured the aforementioned "Tod & Wahnsinn" together with their 2nd record "Hibakusha". And although I always like their first one better, the whole compilation was just great. "Ram It Up" was covered by S.O.D., they had tracks on the "Cleanse The Bacteria" compilation on Pusmort and so on. So they are truly legends in the German hardcore scene, although I would doubt if any of the young kids today know any of their songs.
This is a compilation of almost all the stuff they recorded. It features their three albums, compilation tracks, the "Son Of God" EP and the split 12" w/ The Execute. Three records labeled Oldschool, Nextschool and Highschool which I think is a nice joke. This is a piece of history.

Mount Logan "s/t" LP
I saw this band a year ago at some small festival show in Cologne where they played with some chaoscore bands and they completely stood out because of their very lo-fi and modest approach. Mount Logan are a three-piece without a bassplayer if I remember it correctly and yet they were able to produce a great sort of pressure and noise with their instruments. There were only a few vocals every now and then, very spartanic and the music was very dynamic ranging from loud to very quiet and back to really loud again.
This record really captures their live performance. Dark, gloomy, loud, quiet music which leaves a feeling of despair. You feel like you are the last person on earth. The design of the cover sleeve only emphasizes this. Almost completely in black with now band name or anything else on the front side. The record itself looks more like a test pressing with black labels and writings on it. Great lo-fi-doom-core (oh boy, how I hate makin' up those categories, haha).

Envy "Abyssal" 12" EP
Envy really seem to have found their style of music. After the brilliant masterpiece of their last record this just continues where "Insomniac Doze" left off. Only four tracks here, but the first one is a hymn which could have easily been put on the previous record. 10 minutes, maybe even longer, it just drags itself on and on and I personally wouldn't have a problem if there was no end at all to this one. It's got the usual breakdowns in the middle and then the outbursts come again, a classic Envy track, if you like.
What I especially like about the present Envy is that they still keep their rough edge while trying to add a few experiments every now and then. They could have easily slowed down their pace and reduced the heavyness of their music just like some other bands did. They could just turn into the next Mogwai, but that would be too disappointing if they just copy another band. I just like them they way they are. I liked them the way they were as well when they were still playing that upbeat chaotic brand of hardcore, but this suits them a lot better. I hope there's more to come in the future.

The Ice "s/t" 7"
No FX "Singles Club #9" 7"
Me First And The Gimme Gimmes "Jerry" 7"
...more on those three later on...

This Will Destroy You/Tephra @ MTC, Cologne

This went completely under my radar so I didn't take any notice of the show until a friend of mine told me about it yesterday afternoon. I have seen Tephra quite a few times now and their great blend of sludge/doom/slowcore/whatever-rock/metal is always very nice to hear. The sound was a little disappointing at first though as there were some bass tunes missing. At least that's what I thought. But they did a great job and the crowd seemed to like it as well. There's only one thing that was really annoying to me and that was this very strange gold curtain hanging at the backside of the stage. I mean, c'mon, this looked like some cheap Siegfried & Roy show imitation, but nothing like the dark and gloomy stuff which I would associate with the music of Tephra. Well, I guess it's just part of the club's interior so we all had to live with it.
The crowd, by the way, was rather small, a fact I always like when shows take place in underground (and I mean underground literally here) clubs, where you stand in small cellar-like facilities with almost no air conditioner. It was funny how many well known faces showed up for this one, so this made the show a very good time experience.
This Will Destroy You are a band I had never heard of before, but they really got me with their music. One might throw in Explosions In The Sky as a slight reference, but they have a touch of their own. Although I consider such sound as "living room music" because I always like it better when I listen to it at home, I still liked the show.
A nice evening to start the weekend. Very pleasant.

Approach To Concrete: Great records and strange merchandise

Approach To Concrete were one of the first bands coming from Germany I was listening to when I was younger. Back in the days it was all about New York Hardcore and Bands like Sick Of It All, Sheer Terror, Madball, Agnostic Front or Biohazard were coming to Germany on a regular basis, but as a teenager you somehow don't look sideways and search for bands coming from your area. At least I didn't at first. That changed with the time and at some point I got my hands on a copy of a fanzine called "New Direction" (yeah, well, it's all about the clichés, right?). The issue featured an interview with ATC and lead singer Jörg was confronted with a lot of strange questions, one of them dealing with the "milky way CBGC's", if I remember it correctly. The zine came along with a tape compilation and that one had three demo tracks of Approach To Concrete on it. That stuff got me hooked instantly. And because they were coming from Cologne me and my friends supported them at every show they played around here.
Their records weren't bringing in anything new to hardcore, but what I liked was their punkrock approach. "Drown" is a great 7" and the follow up mini CD "...failures" continued in that way. They didn't care about any rules and they weren't very concenred with the image they portrayed. Some people saw them as a straight edge band completely ignoring the fact that both guitarist Thommy and bassist Seppl were drinking a lot of alcohol and singer Jörg and drummer Jochen were the only straight edge guys in the band. But that didn't matter to anyone because they were just a great band. Filling in at a show in Dilsen, Belgium, when the Swedish straight edge girls of Doughnuts were stuck on the road was a highlight. They also toured Europe with Battery and played a great gig at Cologne's "BüZe Ehrenfeld". Their last two shows were memorable as well. A weekend doubleheader which started at Burscheid's "Megaphon" club, I think they played with Point One from Leverkusen. The club itself was more like a village discotheque and not at all like a squat or a hardcore venue. The turnout was very low and when Approach To Concrete entered the stage there were only three people in the audience. Me, a friend of mine and the guitarist's girlfriend. Their last one was a blast though. The "JKC" was packed and they played one hell of a show. A good way to end it.
I can't quite remember it but I think at that show they were selling or giving away those strange plastic hammers. This again shows their rather funny approach to dealing with the so called hardcore scene. I mean, writing "the face" on one side is just hilarious. I wonder why I still keep this thing. Perhaps it's because I still like to remember those times when hardcore was a great thing in Cologne. Me and bassist Seppl were always meeting up at shows at the "Between" club and when those shows ended we always went to the "Lotta" bar to drink a few more beers until the place closed at 1 am.
Since then the "scene" changed a lot over the years. Bands came and went and it seems to be getting back on track over the past couple of years. What I especially like is that the boundaries which were built up over the years between the different parts of the "scene" seem to be breaking down little by little. Back then it wasn't anything special that punk bands played with hardcore acts. It seems to be getting back to that now. "One finger in the air hardcore", as one shirt print of Approach To Concrete used to read.

Unexpected promotional packages: Blacktop Records

Someone who once in his or her life put out a fanzine will know this situation. You get promotional copies of records by labels you never heard of before. In my case it's even more strange since we at Dear You Zine always pouint out that we don't want and don't need any promotional stuff because we rather tend to buy the records. Yes, we review what we like and we buy what we like. Believe it or not. But so much effort that those promo guys put into their work should not be in vain so I decided to review the stuff here. So whoever wants to read this, feel free. The labels name is Blacktop Records, it's from some small town north of Cologne in the middle of nowhere and the bands are all at least hardcore-ish. Here we go:

AnchorsXUp - s/t CD
It's 2008 and bands still need to put x's in their names. Think you know what this band sounds like? I think you're right. For me this stuff comes at least 10 years too late. Don't get me wrong, this isn't crap at all. It's just that I've already heard enough of this sound over the past years. If I'd see this band live I might even like it. But on record this just hasn't anything to keep me interested. It always depends on who you send such a record to. If this was in the hands of a 20 year old hardcore kid who's totally into old school youth crew stuff then the rating would probably blow the roof. But for me this is just another copy of what was cool around 15 years ago. It's nice to know that there are bands who still play such music, but it's just not my cup of tea anymore. (4/10)

Seed Of Pain - Power, Corruption & Lies CD (actual release is a one-sided 12")
Interesting 90s hardcore touch that these guys from Switzerland have in their music. Although it's only a slight one it's enough to make them stand out of these four Cds I got in this package. Still it is rather sad that they feature the American blend of that period when there were so many great bands in Europe during that time span. What I like is the lack of melodies. Or let's put it this way, the melodies are rather unorthodox. At some point this even reminds me of Kreator's "Renewal" record, although there is no metal in here. Rather interesting. If they play live around here I might go and check them out. (6/10)

Storm & Stress - s/t EP CD
Gee, does anyone really need another band that sounds like all that crap that's played in big room discos where the alternative looking youth is shaking their hips to the newest and coolest sounds to get rid off their school stress? I'm definetely too old for this kind of stuff. Too much metal, too much despair and teenage angst and way too little punkrock. And, well, can we agree on the fact that this kind of music needs a rather bombastic production. Where other bands provide the listener with a tornado (with a little help from the funds of major companies) this is a slight wind. Once again, this might be better in the hands of someone who really digs this kind of sound, but to me it's just mainstream chart music. (3/10)

Black Friday '29 - The Pursuit Of Happiness CD
These guys have been around forever and I don't feel like they've changed a lot over the years. Still their typical hardcore blend with some mosh parts. The whole package sounds very international and will stand the test against their overseas counterparts. But yet again this won't be a record I will listen to in the time I have to spare. It's good and I really like their energetic live shows, but on record it's just not my thing anymore. The times I've seen them on stage they completely ripped through the audience and created a lot of mayhem. Wonderful old tyme hardcore. And I think if they play around the corner for small money I'd be coming along to take a look once again. But there are way too many bands who play this style nowadays, it's all becoming so similar. In my eyes, that is. Glad to see that there's still bands holding up the flag and promoting the spirit, whatever spirit they think it is. But for me that time has passed and I think it's time to move on to soemthing new, something different.
So out of sentimental reasons I'd still rate this one higher than the rest. Duh. (7/10)

Jonah Matranga + Ian Love @ Blue Shell, Cologne

Originally I was tagging along for this one since I am not the biggest fan of Mr Matranga. I saw him once or twice with one of his bands called New End Original at some Popkomm event in the "Büze Ehrenfeld" back in the days. Their record is wonderful but the live set was a little bit too hippie-ish. They broke down the atmosphere with too many slow songs and when Jonah started to blabber about love and "Liebe über alles" and so on that was really getting on my nerves. This must have been in 2001 or 2002 and all I can remember is that by the end of the evening I was pretty drunk. I then saw him play a solo set under the name of Onelinedrawing at the "Underground" in Cologne and that show didn't move me either.
So I wasn't expecting much when I arrived at the "Blue Shell" and frankly I was shocked when I heard that the price was at 15 Euros. I mean, 15 Euros for two singer/songwriter sets is one hell of a lot of money. Oh well, nevermind, there's a free drink included so there we go. I never heard of Ian Love before and I don't think I want to hear anything again in the near future. Yes, it's nice and quiet music at times and then there's songs that rock out a little bit. Yes, he communicates with the audience and has some nice stories and jokes to tell, but that's it. There's nothing special there. Maybe there are too many of those acoustic acts strolling around the stages of Cologne at the moment. Jonah Matranga joined him on stage for a few songs and then I'm off out into the cold to have a cigarette since the artists asked the audience to smoke outside. Well, it's a good practice for times to come when smoking is banned in clubs and bars anyway.
After a short time it's Jonah time and I didn't have a good feeling about this. In the end it turned out that it was a really nice show and it wasn't as hippie-ish as I expected it to be. I recognized a few songs, especially some New End Original stuff. Sure, there were those long and tiring speeches he gave on stage and sometimes the enthusiasm was a little bit too much over the top. But I have to give credit to him that everything he said was something I was able to identify with. Of course that's stuff you hear at every hardcore show and there have been lots of people who say stuff like that a lot better - and a lot shorter. But this was nice for a change. I didn't expected that so I was contend with what I was hearing that evening. Mr Matranga went on to play quite a few songs, I believe he finished the set after some 85 minutes and came back for one encore after the audience refused to stop applauding. Something that rarely happends at shows in Cologne where the auduience usually listens to the musician(s) and then leaves after the last song.
So I expected tthe worst and instead I left with a slight smile on my face.

Minus The Bear @ Neue Werkstatt, Cologne

Visions Magazine is doing shows for quite some time now, but all of those took place in Dortmund, if I'm corrctly informed. Now they expanded their grasp on Cologne and so I went to see their 2nd so called "Visions Party" at a new club in Ehrenfeld, a hip part of Cologne. The club is your usual old and rundown small factory building which is turned into some disco thing. Nothing special, way too clean and boring and the beer is much too expensive. I saw Minus The Bear some time ago when they played at the "Blue Shell" and I remember I really liked the music back then. First I had to endure Escapado, a German band who put out their new record on Grand Hotel Van Cleef, a labvel from Hamburg which is run by lots of guys who come from the punk scene. Bands like Kettcar and Tomte are on their roster and Escapado fall out of line a little bit. It's not that their music is crap, but somehow I'm just not interested in that stuff anymore. You can hear that they are influenced by bands like Yage or Loxiran, but they neer reach the level that those to bands had. Still they draw pretty big crowds and yesterday was no exception. The people were having fun and I had a pleasant coversation.
Minus The Bear were a letdown afterwards. Somehow my memory must have played a trick on me since that was something completely different from what I remembered them to sound like. Rather indie-ish and not so much into atmospheric and long songs. Disappointing in a way. What kept me in the room was the way their guitarist was handling his instrument. That was fun to watch.
After the show we hung out at the party for some time, but that was just your normal big sico kind of crap with bad music and strange people. I was wasted when I got home, so I guess I had a nice evening in the company of nice people but with a rather disappointing show. Next.

Envy @ Gebäude 9, Cologne

I have been waiting for this one for a long time. The first time I was able to experience the whole intensity of an Envy live set was over eight years ago when they played the "Sojus 7" in Monheim. guess what, they were the supporting act for Jimmy Eat World on that day. Several other bands played, but I can't remember the names, I'm sorry. Anyway, those were the days. You can't imagine a billing like that today, can you? I was completely blown away by the energy the band was creating on stage. They were moving all the time and their brutal and chaotic hardcore sound was turning the whole room into a warzone. Great stuff.
They never returned for another show so I had to rely on their records which were always keeping the same level, very exciting and intense, pure despair and melancholy, anger and frustration. But also with a great sense for melodies. So when their "Insomniac Daze" LP came out in 2006 I was quite surprised how this monster changed into something even more interesting. Wonderful melodies and epic 10 minute songs with vocals screaming, talking, sometimes even whispering. This was even better than everything the band had done before. So I was really looking forward to their show in Cologne. Would they be playing the old stuff as well? No disappointment there, they actually delivered stuff from all of their LPs, I think. But the intensity was there again. Although there wasn't as much movement as there was eight years ago, but on another level it was the same. The audience stood and watched with their mouths wide open. At the end of the songs when they were fading out the music you couldn't hear anyone talk. This was awesome. I really loved that show and I sincerely hope I won't have to wait another eight years...

This AIn't Vegas + Patterns @ Gebäude 9 Café, Cologne

There used to be a lot of shows in the small café of the Gebäude 9 club back in the days. Compared to the huge hall in the back of the building which fits an audience of around 500 the frontroom with the bar (called "the café") is a way more nice and cozy room. As I said, back in the days there used to be a lot more shows there, bands like Braid, The Get Up Kids, Ensign or Hot Water Music played there and it was always a very good time.
So I was extremely pleaed when I found out that a friend of mine was setting up a show for the British band This Ain't Vegas, who I had seen some time ago, but I can't quite remember what they sounded like. I thought I remembered them as rather hectic and lively. Anyways, I arrived at the club at around 8.30 pm and there was almost nobody there. So I hung back, drank a few drinks and had a little chat with some of the people I knew who were already there. Patterns climbed on stage at around 9.30 pm and those guys sounded like they really like Fugazi. Very tricky yet very pounding progressive stuff with lots of breaks and weird guitar and bass ... well, yes, patterns. By the time they had finished the room was decently filled and the audience was warmed up for This Ain't Vegas. Now they didn't sound like anything I rememered. Or at least like what I thought they would sound like. This wasn't as complex and strange as I had it in mind. Quite the opposite, they were rather straight forward and rockin' out very well. This wasn't stuff that had you screaming at the top of your lungs or yelling out for more, but it was just the right music for a Wednesday night when you knew you had to go to work the next day. Nice one. Apparently the guy who set up the show advertised the whole thing as the last show before the great breakthrough for the band (it seems like they are entering the UK charts). Well, then it was nice to be a part of this...

A day at the record store (III)

I had a little time on Thursday so I decided to stop by at the record store to grab a copy of the new album by German punk rock superstars Die Ärzte. And this is what I got.

Die Ärzte Jazz ist anders LP
This band is by far the best when it comes to putting out unique records. You can imagine the fun they must have when they think of the things they want to have for a vinyl release. They had double 10" records in gatefold sleeves, they had wonderful "normal" double LP releases with heavy vinyl, they had one record the put into a blue flokati rug thing (unfortunately that one is missing in my collection). And now they came up with a pizza box. Yup, that's right, a pizza box. The thing looks like what you get when you order a pizza to your home. But inside is not something to eat, although it looks like it. The picture LP inside has a normal pizza on the front (A) side and the bottom of a pizza on the B-side. A bonus 7" looks like a tomato slice and the lyrics sheet is just covering the floor of the box. This looks brilliant. A hilarious idea. And to round it off it comes with a coupon for the free download of the LP and 7" songs from their website. This is fan service at its best.


The music is just your usual Ärzte kind of silliness. Wonderful pop songs with lyrics in between the range of hilarious nonsense to wonderful love songs. The single "Junge" describes what most of us had to listen to when we were 16 years old and when you take into account that the members of Die Ärzte are now in their mid 40s it's rather funny to listen to such lyrics. This is a must have.

Pelican Pink Mammoth 10"
I just happened to come across this record while flipping through the stands. And since I'm a sucker for 10"s I just had to take this along. Although I just can't get into the mood to listen to their latest release this one is slightly better. Their new record "City Of Echoes" is a bit too widespread when it comes to trying out new things like changing the tempo in a song and so on. So what you get here is one song of pure and classic Pelican heavyness and the flipside will give you a nice remix of two of their songs. All this in a nice cover sleeve with a nice inlet. Not something one has to have but it sure is a nice record.

A day at the record store (II)

I finally made it to my local record dealer again last week and this is what found there:

MONO Gone (A Collection Of EPs 2000-2007) 3xLP
This was the record I want to buy at my visit to the store and, boy oh boy, this is a gem. A triple LP set in a wonderful gatefold cover, really thick vinyl, brilliant artwork, this is just great. I know I won't put this one on my turntable that often, but I really love the music. It's a collection of some of their EP and compilation tracks, just pure MONO music. Loud, quiet, very dynamic, a great variety. I just love the way they create an atmosphere in which you can endulge and by the time ou are sucked into it it suddenly changes and they do something new and unexpected. This band really is great. On record as well as on stage.

PELICAN City Of Echoes LP
I just didn't know that there is a new record by PELICAN so I was kind of surprised to find this. I saw the band play live some time ago and although I really like their records it was rather hard to listen to them play their songs because their drummer had huge timing problems. At least it sounded like he did. So this record is great once again, although it seems to be a bit more straight to the point at one time, but also a bit more complicated on the other hand. Sounds strange? Might be, but that's what I think. There are some parts which have a rather up beat tempo and not this slow stuff. and then they change back to their epic and broad parts. Anyway, this is PELICAN as you know them and the way their guitars sound is just wonderful.

SUNNO))) - Oracle LP
This is the kind of record which makes my parents shake their heads and make them say that this ain't no music, it's just pure noise. And it's true, I mean, SUNNO))) take sound to a whole new level. When I saw them live last year that was one hell of an experience. The audience was feeling the room, trying to cover their ears, but I was standing there with some of my friends, transfixed and completely focused on the band and their one hour performance which was just stunning. And it was so liud that you could actually feel the music in your stomach. Brilliant.
Now this is a contribution by SUNNO))) to an art performance in which they played the music in connection with a sculpture of their backline made out of cast resin and salt in New York. It's that stuff which makes them interesting to me as well. Their just not your average black metal idiots.

ANTITAINMENT Nach der Kippe Pogo?! LP
I picked up this record only because someone suggested I should go to their concert but I wasn't able to make it there. The name sounded like some cliché punkrock band, but there is more to it. ANTITAINMENT play rather hectic crustcore with a very annoying organ/synthi added to it. It is rather hard to describe so I'd suggest you take a listen. Their lyrics sound a lot like the mid 90s Ebullition style emo bands which popped up all over Germany, albeit with a little more humour. Think AMEN81. I don't think that this record will land on my turntable too often, but every now and then I will listen to it. It nice to have something like taht once in a while. Vinyl version comes in a limited gatefold sleeve cover. Looking good.

THE WEAKERTHANS - Reunion Tour LP
Winnipeg's finest are back on the map with their fourth album, a piece which took them three years to record. Well, I don't know if it took them that long, but it's been that time since the last record came out. This is just your wonderful WEAKERTHANS stuff. No changes made, just pure prairie poetry punkrock with a little country flavour to it. I'm really looking forward to see the guys play again in Germany this November, but I have to admit that this record just can't keep up with the previous three. It's great, no doubt, but it's not as great as the ones they put out before. This is what the WEAKERTHANS are, they make greatr music, they are wonderful people and I will listen to this record anyway. But I just don't think that I will listen to it as extensively as I did to the other records. Still, a must have, not only because the vinyl comes in a wonderful gatefold sleeve.

ILIKETRAINS - Elegies To Lessons Learnt LP
I first heard about this British band when a former colleague of mine told me about a show he attended in Cologne where this band played. He was so fascinated and wouldn't talk about anything else because he was so thrilled with their persomance. So I gave them a chance and searched for some of their songs. And, to be honest, he was right. Although their live show must be a once in a lifetime experience the recorded songs sinmply blew me away. The music is very hypnotic and the interaction between the vocals and the instruments is brilliant. The deep voice of the singer interacts wonderfully with how the songs evolve, starting out rather slow and mellow and then ending up in a hgue crescendo which after some time fades out to become the same mellow and quiet part again that started the song. Wonderful stuff. The really captures the attention of the listener.

Stagedives and Highfives: Gorilla Biscuits in Cologne

Yesterday saw the long awaited and highly anticipated reunion tour show by New York hardcore legends Gorilla Biscuits taking place at Cologne's "Kantine" club. This one was announced at the beginning of the year and should have taken place in summer, but due to some problems noone really knows about it got pushed back to fall and this is where we are now. Now there are not many shows that are labelled "must be there", but this one certainly was. Lots of people showed up, the plates on the cars in the parking lot were showing lots of different cities from all over Northrhine-Westphalia and even farther away.
Kicking things off were Deny Everything who unfortunately played to a small crowd with lots of people still standing outside (the show was sold out, by the way. Was anyone surprised?) or hanging around at the bars. The venue itself was way too big for a small band like them, but it seemed they had their share of fun and their show was good as well.
Next up were Waterdown and noone, really noone knew why those guys had to play at this show. They've been around for quite some time now and I think I once heard or read somewhere that they were the German first band on Victory Records. Which at the time was something they could brag about. I bought their first CD back in the days, but only because they had a coverversion of Slime's "Ettikette tötet" on there. The rest of the music was simply boring metalcore stuff. And nothing has changed today. Still boring crap really noone cares about. Oh well, such bands are always a welcome excuse to get yourself refreshed and order a drink at the bar.
The main act then let the people wait for quite some time. With Missy Elliot's "Get Your Freak On" (or whatever that song is called, I just can't seem to really tell them apart) they entered the stage, your usual fanfare was playing and they started off with "New Direction". No surprises here. They went on to play the hits, they even did some coverversions (amongst others notably "New York Crew", "Dancefloor Justice" or "Pushed Too Far"), the people were having fun in front of the stage, there were bodies flying all over the place, singalongs, fingerpointing, you name it.
Still, I just didn't really got into this. The first half hour of this 70 minute set to me looked rather like being on the verge of turning into something ridiculous. I don't know if I raised my expectations too high or whatever I was expecting, but to me this was more like some coverband doing a show with GB songs and some extras. It took some time until the band settled in. At first they were just standing on stage, playing their songs and basically doing nothing. Apart from Civ who was running around on stage, but to be honest, we all seen singers do this numerous times. Again, this is just me, people were having fun up front and maybe I was just annoyed by the light show that kept shining right into my face. But this wasn't something I will place high up in my all time favourite show list. It was solid, no doubt. But nothing special. Just another rock show.

A day at the record store (I)

There usually comes a time - and it happens around every one or two months - when I just drop by at our local record store and flip through the stands of vinyl. I usually go there with the purpose of buying at least one particular record which has been on my radar for quite some time. But most of the time I buy some more, because I stuble across this one record I have been looking for for a long time. Or this other one which just came out and I just happen to have enough money to buy that one as well. So things keep piling up and I was lucky enough to escape the clutches of evenmore records that wanted to be bought. This is what I got today:

TURBOSTAAT - Vormann Leiss LP
Turbostaat fits really well into the brand of northern German punkrock which mostly is influenced by bands which featured Jens Rachut. In particular those bands would be Angeschissen, Blumen am Arch der Hölle, Dackelblut, Oma Hans and just recently Kommando Sonne-nmilch. Enigmatic lyrics, sung with a little less melody than you'd expect from the music, which sounds very melancholic. Turbostaat are one of the better epigones of this type of music and all their records mean a lot to me. Their live performances were always very entertaining as well.
Now they released their first output on a major label and it really looks like nothing has changed,. Since their last record they have been on tour with German big shots Beatsteaks who enabled Turbostaat to get their foot in the door to the MTV generation. So now they attract a somewhat different audience, which at first always is painful to fans who followed what they were doing for a long time. But in the end it's the band's decision and with records like this one they have every right to do as they please. Here we have 11 wonderful songs, a huge booklet with all the lyrics, pictures and so on. You should get this one.

DENY EVERYTHING - Fire This Time LP
Next up are Deny Everything, local heroes, as you might say. They are from Cologne and their favourite band is obviously Lifetime. It might also be Propaghandi, if you read songtitles like "If there was a god, wouldn't he make people like you just shut the fuck up?", "Apparently it's still just boys' fun" or "Pariotism is so 19th century". Or it might even be all those early 80s hardcore bands from the states who used to play this stop-and-go type of hardcore music that just kept you going and going and going. The band has been around for quite some time evolving from a rather mediocre melody punkrocking outfit which was called Morning Wood to a all out war hardcore machine with the right hand for brilliant melodies and hooks. Their live shows are an experience and you should really catch them on stange if you have the opportunity. A brilliant debut.

OMEGA MASSIF - Geisterstadt LP
Last but not least it's Omega Massif from Bavaria. The first tie I came across this band was when someone of their lineup posted a song on some messageboard. This is the heavy stuff in the vein of bands like Isis, Neurosis or Pelican. Slow, hard, heavy, like a magma stream. What I like about this type of music - and here comes the "pretentious asshole record collector" part - is the way the record is made up. A nice gatefold sleeve, all in brown and yellow colours with pictures of a town where a life has left a long time ago (hence "Geisterstadt"/Ghost Town). Yes, I know that this type of music is very popular at the moment and that there are quite a few bands playing this sort of heavy rocking stuff. But I was listening to another record by some band at the store today and this one is way better. Just the way I like it. Not the same riff for 15 minutes, but still enough monotony to make you feel very medetative. Wonderful stuff.

Two Days, Two Shows

There were two brilliant shows over the past two days in Cologne. First up were Walls Of Jericho, who played a rather uncomfortable club called "MTC". The only advantage that venue has to me is that it is located only a few minutes footwalk from where I live. The place was packed although I don't know if it sold out. Zero Mentality from Germany were up first but although I liked their first record what the performed on stage wasn't really to my liking so I decided to stay upstairs and catch a few breaths of fresh air. Or smoke another cigarette. The club "MTC" is at a very crowded street in the centre of Cologne which is considered to be the heart of Cologne's student night life. So it was always fun to watch who is passing by. Lots of different people and obviously there were the certain someones who were annoyed by the ausdience of the concert. The audience itself was very youn so I was really happy when I met some people of my age. Me and a friend (who is running a wonderful bar in Cologne-Kalk, by the way. Pay him a visit if you are here) were standing up front just at the bar and when Walls Of Jericho started without moving an inch we were dripping of sweat.
The show itself was a very routine performance although the band seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. The audience did so, too. There were people flying all around, one annoying guy was even jumping off the bar. There were the usual hardcore lines ("we are all one scene, blah blah blah"), but hey, that's what the kids want to hear, right? When I left I was drenched with sweat and I had an early shift at my job ahead of me.

Some pictures of the show can be found here.

So the next day saw Quest For Rescue and the Sonic Dolls play at the "Sonic Ballroom", two bands who have been around for a very long time. Quest For Rescue have always been labelled a BMX punkband because their guitarist is a pretty good BMX rider. The show was set up on that day to kick off the BMX World Cup that takes place in Cologne every year. So some of the contestants and visitors came to the Ballroom. But there were also a lot of people who I hadn't seen in a long time, especially the guys of Free Yourself, a great band from Düsseldorf who I had the pleasure to accompany on quite a few occasions. It's so nice to see that the guys are doing fine. There were also a lot of people of the Blurr Fanzine.
Quest started the show and the crowd was really into it. I'm really looking forward to their new record. The release show will be in August. Wonderful. A record I have been waiting for for almost 8 years, I think. If you ever get the chance to pick up one of their records, do so. You won't be disappointed. They play a wonderful melancholic punkrocking sound.
I just caught a small glimpse of Sonic Dolls, a Ramones type-of-sounding band, also from Düsseldorf, because I had to get up early the next morning to help my grandmother moving to her new apartment. And that's why I am sitting here at home right now very exhausted, but very happy at the same time since I had the pleasure to watch to brilliant shows in two days. Something I hadn't done in quite a long time.

In The Backyard Of The Record Collection (4): Avail - "Over The James"

I neglected this record for a way too long time. The were nomerous occansions when I listened to this gem over and over again. And after listening to it I really felt better. It's one of those records that really lift you up to the next level and give you strength and hope. AVAIL were one of those bands who managed to capture the intensity of everything hardcore and punkrock mean to me.


"Over The James" (1998, Lookout) wasn't the first record I bought by them, in fact I got "4AM Friday" (1996, Lookout) first. I fell in love with the wild mixture of power and melodies instantly. This wasn't as nearly as chaotic as some hardcore bands but it wasn't as boring as some punkrock records. It had the energy of a live show in a small room during a hot summer's day when everybody in the venue is moving around and there's the stench of sweat and beer everywhere.
So when I got myself a copy of "Over The James" I thought it couldn't get any better. But it did. And to top if off the live show at the "Sojus" in Monheim was one of the best I've ever been to. Pascal, Dimi and me were bouncing around in the front rows singing along to every song while the band was giving their all on stage. I guess in the end it's those memories that keep you coming back for more. Although I rarely experienced something like this again later.

"S.R.O." was one of the songs that stayed in my ear for most of the time. Great lyrics as well.

"What difference does it really make When your head's at the foot of the bed? Close the lid tight remain out of sight Easy escape numb the senses
Everyone around is such an expert On who is who and what they do I could give a fuck about small talk Discussions in fact I'd rather be alone And do without companionship for now Block out and walk out unseen Keep far away thean come clean
I thought I heard someone say That if the bottle falls but doesn't break Feel blessed it all stayed inside Unopen beats spilling
Bored to death with hearing second hand Who's grown roots who's on teh move Can't seem to avoid small talk discussions Is it safe to be unknown? Who's in, what's out, can't keep up Keep up, look good, be seen Label a trend with no meaning"

Do yourselves a favour, get the record.

On a side note, I completely lost track of what the band was doing after that show in 1998. They put out two more records on Fat Wreck and their singer tried some solo stuff, I heard. But I never got to the point where I wanted to buy one of their later records. Why, I wonder...

Here's one track off "Over The James" that can be found on their website. Enjoy.

Avail - August