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.