Does anyone know Velbert?
It’s a small town that lives a half-forgotten existence between Wuppertal and Essen.
No train station but two highways, both neatly cut through the town. Sounds crazy. It is. So what connects me to this town?
Let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time, a man met another man and they settled in beautiful Friedrichshain in Berlin. Across the street was a kindergarten, behind it a cemetery, and the apartment was in a residential block whose style is also called “Stalinist architecture.” It happened at that time…boring?
Then I’ll get straight to the really interesting part.
SMOKEBOX comes from Velbert. The four men from this, despite the highways, surely beautiful and cozy town, have released their third album “Kung-Fu.”
Before that, they were on the road a lot, not just in Europe. They also played in Cape Town, South Africa, and definitely want to go back there. There must be something about Velbert, as they have always returned there.
However, the band’s sound doesn’t reflect small-town vibes at all, but rather a big world. The songs, all in English, are very pleasing, in a mixture where you discover something new even after multiple listens. You can hear punk, melodic guitar rock, pop, and there are also ethereal, dreamy parts, with singer Mr. Tezlav often sounding heavily garage-influenced (The Hives meets '77 garage punk). Song 4 “Kismet Malfunction” and Song 5 “Now and Zen” (by the way, a nice play on words) especially remind me of Buster Shuffle from London in terms of vocals. Not a bad reference either.
Sure, you can listen to “Kung-Fu” as background music, but then the music won’t fully reveal itself to you. If you’re looking for music to play in the background, you should stay away from this. SMOKEBOX may start off accessible, but don’t let that fool you. If you give them more than half an ear, they won’t let you go.
That SMOKEBOX has to distribute their CD independently will remain one of humanity's great sins. Why is such good music scorned by larger labels and distributors?
