RIOT COMPANY come from one of the ugliest cities in Germany, Hildesheim, in my opinion. The ugliness of the city matches its inhabitants, who have given me a few, but significantly bad experiences. Despite this, I try to view the band objectively. There are always exceptions that prove the rule.
RIOT COMPANY has been around for 10 years now, and aside from a good gig at the Berliner Lido, they have completely passed me by. This could also be due to the fact that the guys have been roaming around Asia as well as Europe. A tour through Indonesia, like the one RIOT COMPANY did, is something that only a few bands have experienced so far.
Now, to celebrate their 10th anniversary, the band is releasing their fourth album. They took four years to finally let "Passion Punk Rock" see the light of day. In the last four years, there were two small signs of life in the form of EPs, but here we have a full 14 new songs.
The band has strongly dedicated themselves to the melodic '77 punk rock with a slight Oi influence of days gone by, which they have infused with a touch of modernity, noticeable especially in the recording and the production. The musical roots are clearly the scene giants of the time, like Sex Pistols, Vibrators, 999, or The Clash. This is also visible on the cover, where a cute punk rock girl looks at the interested listener.
With "Passion Punk Rock," the Hildesheimers interpret their view of punk rock, also lyrically, focusing on the (good) old times of solidarity and the completely crazy punk rock life.
In two songs, the band even ventures into Celtic punk rock territory. This also sounds good, but given the current oversupply of folk punk bands, it can only be seen as a nice excursion.
The 14 songs are not boring even after multiple listens, so despite my still existing aversion to Hildesheim, I can only give a positive verdict.
