Yesterday, the latest work of the Rheinberg gentlemen BETONTOD landed in my mailbox. The astute RAMTATTA.de review reader will notice: "Uh, isn’t there already a review of 'Antirockstars' on RAMTATTA?" To that, I say: Yes. But tastes are fortunately different, and I would also like to add my two cents to this fine piece. Anyone wanting to read a great tribute to BETONTOD should probably check out the review from September 8th.
The first thing I heard and saw from the new BETONTOD album was about a month ago, the video for the song "Keine Popsongs". The video depicts a staged BETONTOD concert with intercuts: The not-so-complex story of a suit-wearing man with a briefcase waiting for his train at the station. He becomes aware of a flyer for that very BETONTOD concert, which seems to be happening in his city. Enlightened by the flyer, the man tosses his briefcase overboard, runs off like a madman, takes off his suit, and arrives at the concert by the end of the song. So, the flyer alone has turned our serious tie-wearing iguana into a daring concert-goer who casually discards his work bag and skips his train ride to a business meeting. Just think of what flyers can do… But to be honest: It’s not very original. Quite clichéd. And it doesn’t seem new to me either. And then there’s the lyrics, in which the singer describes the great nonconformity of BETONTOD (“You never wanted us, you never pushed us, you ignored us just because we are different”), where I can’t help but wonder who “you” is supposed to be. The band is growing and growing, only playing on big stages, and is even mentioned in reputable magazines. Holding up their great banner of nonconformity and otherness with both arms and waving it wildly doesn’t make sense to me. One is familiar with such self-congratulatory proclamations from bands like the, I’ll name the devil, Böhsen Onkelz (thanks to Rüdi from Pogoradio for the term “Left Onkelz” for the band discussed here) or from the Onkelz 2.0 called Frei.Wild. Singing about how different one is, how no one makes it easy for them, and how hard they had and have it, and of course, that the industry and the media are dumb: That seems to be quite trendy and appeals to a broad audience. When I reviewed the last album of the Rheinbergers, I still resisted comparing them to such bands, but at this point, when looking at the lyrics of the quasi-title track "Keine Popsongs", the similarities are as glaring as a colorful dog against a white wall.
So, enough with the harsh words. With this attitude, I approached the work "Antirockstars". However, after the first listen, I had to realize that the album is not as terribly bad as I thought. Did I paint the devil on the wall too quickly? In any case, it is better than the predecessor "GlaubeLiebeHoffnung", which sounds strongly like Peter Maffay on cocaine. Schlager attitude paired with metal guitars. "Antirockstars" rather goes back to "Schwarzes Blut", which was released in 2006 on, to my surprise, Nix Gut. "Antirockstars" is once again wonderfully produced, with a fat guitar sound, a wide sound panorama, and perfect volume ratios: It really pushes forward. One cannot complain about the technical side. The melodies are catchy and certainly have a sing-along factor: Live, but certainly also at the bar and in the beer tent in a playlist alongside the aforementioned bands. I find it interesting or better put, thought-provoking, when bands strive for somewhat sacred rhetoric in the tried-and-true Toten Hosen manner, which is rather untypical for punk rock, as it says in song number 1 called "Gloria": "Our crusade has begun (...), like fallen angels we march on". This comes across as very forced, especially for a band like BETONTOD. In connection with the next lines "nothing can stop us now", there is an undeniable self-love and self-aggrandizement. And of course, the quota-Betontod-drunk song is also back in the mix under the title "König Alkohol". Since "Exzessiver Alkoholgenuss", the band seems to have taken it upon themselves to equip every album with an anthem to our mutual friend alcohol. Don’t get me wrong, I also enjoy a drink, but if there were a keyboard instead of distorted guitars in that song, it could easily be on the current Ballermann hits compilation due to its melody.
Otherwise, the album is definitely more guitar-heavy than all its predecessors. This suits the band well with their new style, as it can also be described as a mix of punk rock with a tendency towards metal. BETONTOD seems to be moving a bit further away from punk rock and aiming to attract a broader or new audience. Considering the fan crowds around bands like Frei.Wild, there seems to be a large market for such music and lyrics.
I don’t want to deny the band their "we don’t care about the mainstream" (song "Keine Popsongs"), but when I look at what the gentlemen produce, it does create a different impression. For example, when they release a special edition of the album that comes with a lighter, bottle opener, and – watch out – autograph card. Note here: This special edition is already sold out! In any case, this is also music that resonates well with small suburban rebels who decorate their lowered Opel Corsa with a BETONTOD rear window sticker and then drive with squealing tires to the next village disco.
