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.

The Gaslight Anthem @ Werkstatt, Cologne

I had been looking forward to this evening for a long time and then it was over a little bit too fast. I was working in the morning and had to rush to a rehearsal afterwards so there wasn't any chance to grab something decent to eat by the time we arrived at the "Werkstatt". The weather was fine, quite a few people were there and before we knew it our good friends of The Gaslight Anthem came out of the venue and the time turned back a few months. It was almost like they never left. I really enjoyed talking baseball with Benny again.
The show was fabulous. The whole band seemed to be in a very good mood and everybody looked like they were having a lot of fun. Although Alex (bass) seemed to be a little annoyed by the artificial smoke cannon. New songs, old songs, even songs of the upcoming record which will be out after this summer. Oh boy, I can't wait to get this goodie.
No one of the crew seemed to be interested in Fall Of Troy who played as the headliner for the night. Judging from their fans I didn't miss much since one dork was yelling their name while The Gaslight Anthem was playing. Those fanboys can really be a nuisance.

It was one of those special nights that don't come around to often and especially since I don't have that much money to burn. Somehow I didn't go to a lot of shows in the past few months so it felt really good to hang out with my friends for a nice summer evening. The only thing on the downside was that this was the opening day of the football Euro championship so I wasn't able to watch the second game of the day. Nevermind. Great Entertainment. Hopefully I will make it to another show.

KölnCampus: College radio in Cologne

There had been an urgent need for an independent radio station in Cologne for ages and since the local college radio station "KölnCampus" went on air a few years ago it's fun to listen to the radio again. Although the program is far from perfect the main difference to the established corporate and public radio stations is the choice of music they play. And that's where it really gets interesting.
Cologne is dominated by the WDR, the public radio and TV station Westdeutscher Runfunk". They air five radio programs and one TV broadcast. Their radio stations range from youth orientated programs ("1Live") to spoken word programs (WDR5) to a station for the music of, well, let's say elder people (WDR4) to an information based program for everybody else (WDR2). "1Live" was my preferred choice over the past few years although it's rather hard to listen to it because of the crappy chart music they play. Still when the clock changes to 8 pm their program suddenly becomes better with lots of in depth broadcasts about bands, famous people, they do reports on all kinds of topics and they have the german version of John Peel in Klaus Fiehe whose Sunday evening program is really worth listening.

What "KölnCampus" did was introducing a whole new load of bands to the airwaves. Sometimes the mixture is rather strange because when they don't have a program in the studio they have a computer streaming a shuffle mix of the music they have. Which leads to rather abrupt and weird combinations. Like havning a classic rock song first which is followed by a hip hop song which is followed by a hard trance track which is followed by a country song which is followed by a grindcore stomper. You get the picture.
Today though they have an hour of hardcore and punkrock tracks and that's pretty neat because I got to listen to some bands I had never heard of before or some bands I had long forgotten. That's what I really like about the station. Sometimes the really dig deep to bring up stuff which reminds you of something and then you can continue from there. This is the playlist up until now (it's still running as I write this at 11:44h am):

11:43 raised fist you ignore them all
11:40 agnostic front dead to me
11:37 bubonix fashion tattoo
11:33 Refused The Shape of Punk to Come
11:30 propagandhi anti manifesto
11:28 no fun at all catch me running around
11:25 millencolin twenty two
11:23 good riddance united cigar
11:21 bad religion against the grain
11:19 pennywise i get around
11:17 nofx whats the matter with parent..
11:15 anti-flag you can kill the protester...
11:11 against me white people for peace
11:09 lagwagon know it all
11:06 far from finished disaster
11:02 be your own pet love your shotgun
11:00 distillers, the drain the blood

Great stuff. Maybe it's the overture to tonight's Hellfire Radio broadcast, the punkrock show on "KölnCampus".
There's the chance to listen in via livestream which can be found here. I don't know the capacity of the bandwidth but for me it worked fine every time I checked it out.

Home sweet home

It was always rather funny to listen to those rap songs in which the lyrics describe the surroundings of the rapper, how he grew up, how hard and tough his life was roaming the streets of his hometown district. And maybe it was always funny because the cities and their disctricts were always somewhere else. There are songs about my hometown Cologne, but those were either pretty weird and bad (as in wanna-be gangsters singing about their oh-so-tough part of the town) or they were referring to other parts of the city I never lived in.
Now while listening to our local college radio station I came across a song which deals with the south side of Cologne, exactly the part of the city in which I grew up in. The video below is kind of interesting to me since it shows a lot of streets and places I frequently go to and I think the breakdance action was shot at the "Adler" memorial which is roughly 200m from where my parents live. I am in no way an expert on hip hop, but I found the chorus rather boring, still it's a nice song and a fine description of what life was and is like on the south side. Take a look:

O-Flow feat. Kurt Hustle aka Retrogott - Köln-Sued

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...

In The Backyard Of The Record Collection (9): Cross My Heart - s/t

To be honest, when I first heard about the band I really found the name, well, debateable to say the least. I mean, okay, they sound like an emo band, but that name is way too cliché. Still the music is brilliant. I remember a friend telling about this new record he bought and there was this great line in one song going "...and I'm moving on my own two feet just to get my direction". He would go on and on and on raving about how great this record was and that I should really get it as soon as possible. It took me sone time to be convinced, but when I bought it it struck me with full force. The opener "Dornier" begins at a rather slow pace and tone, then suddenly crashs out and dies down again. The clear and subtle voice sets in and we're off on a great journey. This wasn't like anything I was listening to at that time. "It doesn't take that many pills to sleep forever" is the best one one this record and that's the song with that particular line my friend was talking to me about. The verse, again, very subtle and quite and then the rumbleing guitars set in for the chorus. The closing tune is yet again a true classic. Starting off with some feedback beeping which carries over from the previous track "The hypnotist" is very much hypnotizing, to say the least. There's this part in the end where there is a smal change to the previous chorus when it gets a little heavier which really gives me goosebumps.
With this record Cross My Heart from Baltimore made themselves immortal to me. Their follow up releases didn't quite get through to me as well as this one although one has to say that those records were way above average as well compared to the numerous epigones and clones that sprung up and died away with the time passing. Some of the guys are now in a band called Liar's Academy, but it just doesn't have the same feel as it had 10 years ago.

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.

In The Backyard Of The Record Collection (8): Big Rig - Expansive Heart

Now actually I can't quite remember when or why I pruchased this little gem. I think it must have been through the infamous German mailorder Lost & Found (note to myself: I have to write about Strain some time in the future). Could have been that the review said something about the singer of Operation Ivy being in this band and that was why I bought it. Ever since I first got my hands on the Op Ivy discography CD is was head over heels in love with that band. I always liked ska-punk, but this was different, as all of us know. I wasn't that much into Rancid at that time though, that only changed when they released their brilliant "...And Out Come The Wolves" record.
So I got Big Rig and at first I didn't really know what to expect. If I recall it correctly the review in the catalogue didn't say anything about the style of the music, so I am not quite sure what I was hoping for when I put the "Expansive Heart" 7" on my turntable for the first time. It wasn't ska-punk that awaited my ears, that's for sure. This record was explosive yet very intense and touching. Only four songs, but each and every one of them is great. The title track has a great melody and simply rips through everything. The singing of Jesse Michaels just sounds as if Operation Ivy have gotten rid of all the ska stuff and became a normal punkband. I never really got into listening to his next band Common Rider, that was too much reggea for me. But Big Rig was all that I needed back than.
I have no idea if this record is still in print, but maybe you can find some songs on the internet somewhere.

Nothing In Common @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

All good things have to come to an end eventually and since Lisse, Nothing In Common's guitarist and singer, decided to join Aachen's Pale and play bass with them, the end of one of Germany's finest punkrock bands came to an end last Friday. What a fitting venue the Ballroom is for an occasion like this.
We (a.k.a. A Modest Proposal) have been friends with Nothing In Common for a long time because our singer Pascal and Lisse grew up together. It was always a pleasure to watch them play and the songs they performed were always highly entertaining. As were Lisse's announcements and actions on stage. For their last two release parties they asked some of their friends to perform punkrock and hardcore classics only accompanied by a piano player. Great stuff.

So this was their last show and the place was packed. So packed that - honestly - I wasn't in any mood to join the crowd so I kept standing in front of the room and talked to some people. It seems that the days of great shows which were more like a huge meeting of friends with some random band playing are a thing of the past now. So people only show up for special stuff like Gorilla Biscuits or for the last show of some of their friends' bands. For The Day (Aachen) opened up for the evening which took me a little by surprise since I thought that they had called it quits as well. What I was hearing from outside sounded as good as always and their choice of coverversions was exquisite as well (Jawbreaker "Boxcar" and The Undertones "Teenage Kicks"). Next up were D.H. from the east of Germany. I had seen them play with Nothing In Common at some show in Brühl years ago and I really liked what I heard so I bought their record. Still I can't remember much of it and it's been quite some time since I last listened to their music. By the time they entered the stage on Friday I didn't really pay any attention. Unfortunately maybe. If I remember it right they had a more "German" touch to their music, but still their brand of punkrock had something of some American bands as well. Note to myself: Have to listen to the record again.
So the I left I didn't see Nothing In Common play their final show because I had to work the next day. I believe they were awesome as they always were when I saw them. Another great band left the stage.

Akiakane @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

I have been looking forward to this show ever since I found out about it on punkstelle.de at the end of last year. It's very rare for us to get to see Japanese bands play live in local clubs, so I gave the music of Akiakane a try via their myspace site and I instantly liked it. Very nice melodic punkrock with enough energy and aggressiveness.
Arriving at the "Sonic Ballroom" at around 2115h the place was decently filled but definetely not sold out. First up were a band from Cologne called The Bloody Valentines, a name today often associated with whiny emo bands, but those guys were more into the punkrock kind of things. Well, there were somewhere in the middle between classic 77 styled punkrock and German fun punk gods Die Ärzte, although only on the musical side of things. This was too much cliché. Interestingly though their bassist seemed to be blind, still he was making all the announcements and it seemed that he was writing a lot of the songs. So,w ell, yeah, they played for around 45 minutes which a quarter of an hour too much if you ask me.
When the samurai girls of Akiakane entered the stage the expectations were very high it seemed. There was some kind of strange atmosphere in the room. Noone knew what to expect now. Introduced by what seemed to be their tour driver from England they then went on to absolutely tear down the club. Fast, high energy and aggressive punkrock tunes, not very much talking on stage (maybe due to the lack of English knowledge - which wasn't true as I found out after the show when I talked to singer Moe for a few minutes), that's the way it should be. People seemed to enjoy the show and were dancing around, getting them back on stage for one encore after around 40 minutes. It's a pity the Ballroom wasn't more packed than the ~40 people who turned up on this Sunday night. But I really enjoyed myself and hope that they will return in the future. If not I might go and check them out in Japan. That's what their merchandise girl Nao told me to do. よろしく。

Quote of the day

"I believe in freedom of speech and I think it's very important but you don't do it in foreign countries and you certainly don't do it in public"

(Some redneck in the movie "Shut Up And Sing" giving a statement why he now hates the Dixie Chicks. God bless America.)

Rocky Votolato @ Rex Cinema, Cologne

Sometimes evenings turn out just the opposite of what you had expected them to be like. Well, this wasn't realy the case for last Tuesday's evening since it wasn't supposed to be bad or anything like it, but in the end I had a lot of fun which I didn't expect when I left the house.
I originally planned to meet up with my sister and two friends before Rocky Votolato was supposed to play in a movie theatre in Cologne. The venue itself was a very special pick because I don't remember that they set up shows there before. So the biggest room in the Cinema was used for a very low key and quiet acoustic show of Mr Votolato. 350 people were lining up before the doors opened leaving the other people who were just passing by with some sort of astonishement on their faces. "Rex Cinema" is usually known as the "One Dollar House" which basically means that they show movies at a very cheap price. They manage to do so because they show old movies. Old in this sense meaning that those movies are already 3-6 months old or even older. So actually it is something like a re-screening. That's a nice idea because the prices for movie thetres went through the roof in the past few years.
Alright, so while we were standing in front of the "Rex" some friends passed by and we were just talking. I was getting ready to leave because I didn't have a ticket and I heard that the show was sold out anyway. So just as I was about to return home I met a former colleague who happened to have a "+1" spot on the guestlist, and the "+1" wasn't able to come around. Lucky me.
The stage was set up very simple, just a few lamps and other stuff, nothing special. But first they were showing trailers for upcoming movies they are showing at "Rex" in the future. This was kind of fun because it was totally like people were going to watch a movie. They were even showing the ice cream comercial which usually ends the commercial part before the movie. Still the choice of the trailers was interesting as well. There is this movie about the Dixie Chicks and their problems with their rather ignorant and conservative fan base ("Shut Up & Sing" - German site. Strangely enough the American one seems to be offline).
So after this Mr Votolato enters the stage and the completely captures the audience. Interestingly enough, as one friend standing at the entrance put it - "the authority of the room" was working very well. People were behaving like they were watching a movie. Which means they weren't talking very loud, they were just listening to the music. It felt kind of relaxing to see that. This must have been one hell of a show but I didn't see that much of it since I preferred to talk to some friends in front of the cinema. But it seems that he played a lot of songs and had a good choice from his repertoire.
When the show was over I was waiting for my sister and she had a surprise for me. I got a Red Sox cap from a friend who went to the States and on this particular evening he gave me the cap before we went to the show. While standing in the movie theatre I put the cap on my sister's head and then she disappeared to the front of the room. So when she came out of the cinema she had this look on her face that she did something bad and the first thing she asks me is "Will you get mad?". So then she presents me with the cap and there's an autograph of Rocky Votolato on it. I couldn't care less about something like this so I was really laughing. Nice way to end the evening.

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.