Germany Tag

The sun has brought life to a halt. It’s crawling through the rugged walls. The faded terracotta walls throw back its reflections. It’s wearing down the parasols that have seen better days anyway. It’s dazzling heat is not yet ready to disappear. There is a couple sitting on a café patio looking towards the sea. He’s wearing a white linen shirt, a straw hat and linen pants. In his right hand he is holding on to a thick cigar. His left hand playing with the little spoon. He’s calmly stirringRead More

There is a difference between music you actually like and music you can appreciate for its value or the artistic value underneath it. I always found it hard to differentiate between the two. I still do in fact. Messer have always been one of those bands to me. On the one hand, my indie and punk heart is telling me that I should like them. On the other hand is the music though and that is not making it easy for me to like them. Too cool. Too distanced. TooRead More

A woman inked in black and white holding her hand in front of her open mouth in surprise. Below, in thick red letters, it says ABAY and really tiny some more letters that form the album title. Everything is amazing and nobody is happy – it’s the zeitgeist talking and a fitting title to what is the debut album by one of German indie rocks busiest people. Blackmail were an institution in the German indie rock scene. The tight production by guitarist Kurt Ebelhäuser met lead singer Aydo Abay’s distinctRead More

Germany’s music landscape has been marked by a rising number of young and mostly male indie-pop bands lately. They all met in school and started off in their parents garages. Von Wegen Lisbeth is one of those bands and their story is not really different to any others. Not that I am saying their background is boring by any means, but if there is nothing new to tell, then there is simply nothing new to tell. Most famous example at the moment: Annenmykantereit. AMK are touring in sold-out venues andRead More

Oh German punk, you are truly doing well. If you hear and watch the new song by Farben/Schwarz called Jahr der Schlange there’s no other possible outcome. The last months brought us new albums by Turbostaat, Captain Planet, Fjørt or Kmpfsprt and Farben/Schwarz do foster your appetite for their upcoming EP. Heavy guitars, thundering drums and aggressive vocals broken up by clean verses and breaks. Jahr der Schlange is probably their best song to date. On it, the band shuffles between post-rock breaks, Fjørt heavyness and Kmpfsprt’s thorough energy. GetRead More

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

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

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

It must have been in early 2015 when I find myself sitting in the office of a record company. I’m here to talk about the labels‘ forthcoming releases and have a bit of a general catch up to do. We smoke a few cigarettes, drink a coffee or two and listen to some interesting artists. Towards the end of the meeting I get shown a video of an artist the label just recently signed. They were out with him in California and used the time to shoot a video theyRead More

Punk, rock and German indie these are the poles between which Astairre have set foot. Ich hasse meine Freunde is the first song from their upcoming EP So lange wir noch funktionieren. And it’s a belter. I have to admit that I’m not totally unbiased here – I’ve met bassist Robin on a long night out at Reeperbahn Festival a couple years back. Since then I’ve been tracking what the band is up to. With Unter Schafen Records they have finally found the right home for their sound. And ifRead More