I have to admit that I only knew DIE NERVEN by name and that they are said to make NOISE music. Therefore, I was very curious about them when the opportunity arose to review their album.
Their sixth album "Wir waren hier" doesn’t start off extremely NOISE at all.....
Yes, the guitar is lush, the bass is heavily distorted and hammering, and the drums carry the 10 songs, just as one would love from a 3-man band. My dancing feet are definitely already moving on the first listen of the nearly 40 minutes.
A good sign.
The mix of the first songs from punk, rock, and indie is just fun and resonates very well with me!
On top of that, the lyrics go straight to the ear and encourage sing-alongs on the second listen. An example right from the second song "Wir nehmen die letzten Stunden fette Jahre gerne mit, warum hab ich Angst aber du nicht, das Glas zerbricht und ich gleich mit".
And the bass goes so deep in the song "Wir waren hier" on "Wir waren hier", I immediately get a (positive) goosebump and finally, there’s also a noise approach starting from the middle of the song. So NERVEN DIE NERVEN definitely do not bother me!!!!
The fifth and sixth songs are quite wavy, slow, dark...
"Und ich fühl mich so fremd, weiß nicht wie man es nennt" from "Wie man es nennt" or "Tausend Nadelstiche, treiben sich ins Fleisch, ich hör dich sprechen, aber weiß nicht was du meinst, ich will nie mehr achtzehn sein, ich will nie mehr achtzehn sein" from "Achtzehn" (with strings!), they go really deep into the (little black) heart...
Another example, in the pre-chorus of song 7 "Bis ans Meer", the melody becomes very soft, like in a more melancholic TON STEINE SCHERBEN song and the lyrics "Kann auf meiner Haut die Sonnenstrahlen spüren, lege mich ins Gras, kann es fast wachsen hören, kann auf meiner Haut die Sonnenstrahlen spüren, lege mich ins Gras, und mach die Augen zu" could also be from Rio Reiser.
With the melancholic song "Disruption", which translates to "interrupt" or "destroy", "Wir waren hier" ends quite depressingly. This is a song for cold, long winter evenings, but it’s only September. And ending an album like this already hints at an end for the band. Let’s hope that’s not the case, as I have (late) found my love for DIE NERVEN.
