All posts by Carlo

There are obviously a lot of songs that you listen to throughout your whole life. The question is what sticks to your mind? What do you actually hang on to? And what do you really remember several years down the line. I hate facebook chain mails and I hate how Buzzfeed et al tend to accumulate lists and sell them as journalism. What I liked about this particular idea though is that taking your time to think about this lays out a map of who you are. So this listRead More

Frankie was a heartbreaker, I didn’t know it at the start Is it possible to capture pure sex on a record? I’ve been asking myself this question quite a few times recently. Especially when listening to the new Death From Above 1979 record. And if someone has managed to do it, the two guys from Toronto have probably done it. And it’s not your pretty flowery sex, it’s the total opposite.Read More

I know that we haven’t talked about pop music in quite a while. I mean, we all do love our indie, punk, noise or whatever influenced bands that play the crappiest venues all to be able to release some tunes recorded in their bedrooms or garages via bandcamp or on small run vinyl. But from time to time there is an urge and a void that can only be filled by massive pop tunes. Tacky hooklines that block your ears for days and nights, one-liners that make you long forRead More

I never was an astronaut, I never was a drummer. I never was a Beastie Boy but it doesn’t really matter! It’s great when there’s a band you grew up with together. I don’t mean that in the sense of you went to the same school, hung out at the same bars or on the same playground etc (even though that is quite cool, too). I mean it in the sense of you discovered them quite young and as you grew up yourself, the band also got bigger and bigger.Read More

Looking at your face in the dark, you don’t even look that smart Some things take a little while to reach a certain degree of quality. Things like a good red wine, a single cask whiskey or a great guitar are getting better with age. Some bands tend not to follow this logic. Their debut albums will always be cherished by some fans as the opus magnum. When you think about punk rock, it doesn’t even have to go that far, as some bands tend to exist for only aRead More

Conscience separates man from else creatures When gang-vocals turn into gang-growls you know you’re deep into dark territory. The six songs on ‚Barricades‘ don’t offer a lot of condolences for the weak hearted. This is hardcore with a much darker and desperate twist than what has become so beloved by fans of „The Wave“. The guitars are creating a barricade themselves. The noise is deafening. The vocals are merciless, the drums dry as desert sand and the bass is a growling steamhammer. It’s only fitting that the artwork consists ofRead More

THE THINGS I HATE THEY WILL NEVER TURN THEY JUST MOVE INTO ANOTHER CITY It has been some time since I have stumbled across a totally new band that made me dance around the room in celebration. But during one of my ventures deeper and deeper into the youtubesphere I found the video to City by a band called Leoniden. The first lines are just accompanied by hectic drums and more vocals until guitars and synths kick in, paving the way for one of the catchiest choruses I’ve heard inRead More

It’s never easy, when one of the bands you were cherishing in your teenage days becomes a global brand themselves. When small venues turn into stadiums, when edges become polished surfaces, when the small indie label gets replaced by the biggest label in the world. Rise Against have been broken – not in the sense that they have ditched all their old values and turned their back on the scene, but in the sense major labels use the term for bands going gold. So they managed to sell a wagon-loadRead More

In Germany they say that sometimes you have to look over the edge of your plate. What might sound like the desperate escape route of your meaty dinner, is actually a very useful hint for your everyday music nerdism. Yes, we all love certain kinds of music (this blog does too), and we tend to soak up a youth cultures and if we are attracted to them, the chances are quite high that we actually start to play an active role in these subcultures. The problem the German saying isRead More

It feels like time is flying by. We’re already in the middle of june and all the albums and bands we’d like to write about we can’t write about because we are all caught up in our day-jobs. So this post is paying a tribute to three albums that I’ve been listening to constantly for the last couple of months. I guess it’s fair to say that they all have a similar background but all go their own ways. They’ve nearly all been released this year (sorry Modern Baseball wasRead More