Yearly Archives: "2016"

There are some constants in my life over the last couple of years. My parents, my sister, my friends, evening long discussions about the transfer policy of my favorite football club and my love for Northern German punk rock. Next to Turbostaat, Captain Planet are one of those bands that cannot disappoint me. Ein Ende is the name of their latest record. I was traveling the US recently, when I got an email from their label Zeitstrafe (one of the best German punk labels) asking me if I’d be interestedRead More

It’s a Thursday night and I am bored and slightly angry. I am not sitting alone at home. I am not bored because I have no one to interact with. Fun fact, I am at a party. I know plenty of people here and I am having a good time with free drinks, nice catch up talks, small talk and so on. I am not complaining about the occasion – it’s the aftershow party of the German Echo music awards – I actually like being here. The show was awfulRead More

Rozwell Kid: „New“ EP and European tour Roaring guitars, smashing drums and bubblegum melodies – what sounds like the trademark of Weezer, in the here and now even more applies to Rozwell Kid from West Virginia (which, according to Wikipedia, doesn’t have that much to offer beyond that). The quartet has released three albums since 2011, though none of them attracted much attention over here in Europe – but that might change now. With their last year’s EP „Good Graphics“ just now having been released on (very good-looking) vinyl andRead More

A whirring guitar, then a second guitar and all of a sudden bass and drums crash in. It may not sound like the reinvention of the wheel, but LIRR are different and Ritual is a strong statement. Emo and Germany have had a difficult relationship at times. While the US is full of new bands playing basement shows, releasing music through mini labels and working in a tight knit community, Germany hasn’t been that fazed. Don’t get me wrong, there are always a couple of bands that wave the emoRead More

A new Thermals record is finally out and everybody should get it as soon as possible. It is unlike any Thermals record before it and still undeniably Thermals enough to be unlike anything any other band could record. „We Disappear“ came to me through the complementary wifi at Heathrow airport as I was waiting  for a flight that kept getting delayed. I ended up listening to it six times in a row and the journey it took me on in these three hours (the ten songs clock in at almostRead More

This year is shaping up to be a great year for music. While the whole world falls victim to ugly terrorist attacks, disgusting right wing propaganda and the seething death of our planet, music is a welcome distraction. The Hotelier are one of the bands whose record I am looking forward to the most. Piano Player is the first proper song (ballad Goodness Pt. I put aside) – and if the band isn’t going to blow up with this record I don’t know who will. Home, Like NoPlace is thereRead More

We have a weak spot for the Northern German punk rock. Our readers should know this by now. One band in particular is Turbostaat. We really liked their last album Abalonia and we kept telling you how great they are live. Now they have recorded a little session at Off the Road Studios. Apart from the band ripping through their new song Ruperts Gruen there’s also an old Märchenonkel who tells us about the band sitting in a comfy chair. Even though you won’t understand what he’s on about ifRead More

Avant Gardener has been running on my laptop, phone and whatever device I use to listen to music too for days now. But why can’t I let this song go? I wanted to include the song in a list of different songs. But I couldn’t come up with a proper topic I felt worth talking about. I must have played this song more than a hundred times since I came across it in the monthly Birp playlist. And after hours of listening it is starting to make sense why IRead More

Leoniden are back. Do you remember these guys? Their last EP was released by the now defunct indie label Delikatess Tonträger in 2014. It was an infectious blend of groovy audio-sexyness. And to be honest, I was asking myself a few times now, what the band has been up to recently. And now we know. 1990 is the first song from a new upcoming EP titled Two Peace Signs. We can only go as far as saying, that even with a new lead singer, the band is totally killing it!Read More

Finally it’s here. Låpsley has finished her first full length record. As regular readers of this blog, you should be familiar with the name and the music you can expect. If not, you have either been fast asleep for the past one and a half years, or you have no interest in music. Holly Lapsley Fletcher is not yet 20 years old, but she’s managed to play pretty much every important showcase festival in the past year (Eurosonic, The Great Escape, Reeperbahn) and as much a fan of her asRead More