Hooray, the SONDASCHULE is back in town…
Well, for now only on the turntable, the CD player, or other digital media.
But starting in November, they’ll be on tour, although many have already seen SONDASCHULE with me (!) at Olga Rock on August 9th in Oberhausen, and in those 100 minutes, there were already some new songs to hear.
Now, let’s talk about the songs, which kick off with the album title “We stay awake” as the first track. Cool ska-punk that plants itself in your legs and ears from the very first second.
And it continues with “Far, far away,” which reminds me a bit of TOTEN HOSEN with brass instruments. In contrast, “To a new day” has more ska/reggae and lots of “ohh ohh.” So far, “We stay awake” is AMAZING.
With the fourth song “I don’t drink anymore” (but not less either), I first have to get used to these Caribbean steel drums, known as steelpan or steel drums (yes, I’ve done a bit of research). Overall, “I don’t drink anymore” is really good; like the other songs, you can somehow sing along immediately, as everything rhymes so logically. You just have to get used to the steelpans in the first minute of the song. On the other hand, “We stay awake” is now the 8th album of the Oberhausen band, so they have to bring something new in.
“Get up” continues these fine ska-punk songs. WOW… You just have to sway along…
And then it gets melancholic with “Don’t cry featuring tEd Sheeran,” and just the first words from Costa Cannabis “It’s over…” in the mood, in the vocal range, with the melody, immediately remind me of Rio Reiser’s song “Junimond,” and it sends chills down my spine, in a positive way! Oh Rio, my Rio, gone from us almost 30 years ago, almost 40 years of “Junimond,” sorry I’m drifting off… A wonderful song by SONDASCHULE…
“Annoying” is then punk rock again, is it “Annoying” ????
But “That can happen,” again more ska-punk, and those are songs 7 + 8 on “We stay awake.” A dash of reggae results in “Sex, cocaine, and fresh air,” song number 9. By now, 26 minutes have passed, and the album is simply AMAZING so far, Album of the Year 2025, but 3 songs + a short “Hello” still follow.
I’ll skip over this 8 seconds of “Hello” after a phone ringing as track 10. Next is “Happy Birthday for your birthday,” and sorry, a song like that has no place on an album, in my opinion. Such a song can be released as a single, but a birthday song on an album just doesn’t work in my eyes, or what do you think?!?
This painful song “You are good like this” with piano and strings doesn’t resonate well with me either. The lyrics are okay, and it makes sense that a heavy melody follows, and the sometimes soft, sometimes powerful vocal part from Costa Cannabis fits. But the overall concept, in my opinion, doesn’t suit a ska-punk rock band with the corresponding tolerances in this genre; the song is somehow WDR-classic-like. No punk rock, no ska, no reggae, not even a love song. But my opinion is, as always, subjective.
Only slightly better is “When it’s at its best,” but this song also feels very Eins Live, ZDF-Hitparade (is that still a thing?) or ZDF-Fernsehgarten-like. Mainstream, trivial, without an Aha effect. What a shame.
Conclusion: 26 minutes of the best songs of the year and 9 minutes to skip (unless someone has a birthday)
