PASCOW have released a new album titled "Alles muss kaputt sein". An album that many have surely been waiting for. I have previously overlooked PASCOW. I saw the guys a while ago, didn't think much of them, and that was it. In the meantime, the band has built a solid fan base, and I keep hearing that PASCOW are really great.
Now "Alles muss kaputt sein" is in front of me, and I'm considering what to write about the album. It’s sophisticated punk rock; some still call it Deutschpunk, but you could also refer to it as the scrappy Hamburger Schule. There is singing, screaming, and shouting. The guitar is nicely loud and scratchy, without sounding cheap or out of tune. The drums clearly set the beat and are also the driving force behind the songs.
The lyrics are no longer as cryptic, fragmented, and cerebral as on earlier albums; however, they are still miles away from Deutschpunk. By that, I don't mean that Deutschpunk is only about cops, drinking, and being against Nazis, but it’s also about getting to the point in two minutes. PASCOW do get to some point, but not necessarily in a precise way and not with slogans. It’s more about the small and big stories that the band tells, and in their songwriting, it shows that they have all at least seen the inside of a university and have life experience.
PASCOW is still Hamburger Schule, albeit scrappy and angry. But the student, even when angry, remains a student.
PASCOW is still punk for students and educated kids from the middle class, as well as perhaps for emo punks who want to appear intellectual. I still can't connect with the band. It's just not my thing.
Songs like "Äthiopen die Bombe" or "Wir glauben an gar nichts und sind nur hier wegen der Gewalt" contain a lot of truth and are, for me, the highlights of the album.
