After “Eigentlich“, comes “Irgendwie“. LOVE A from Trier seem to have taken on the filler words of the German language with their album titles.
The band released an album called “Eigentlich“ that was among the discoveries of 2011. A sound that is post-punk. Lyrically uncompromising, raucous, grumbling, but always hitting the nail on the head. The review of the record “Eigentlich“ can be read at ramtatta.de under http://www.ramtatta.de/reviews,id-1138,go-love+a+eigentlich.html. Crazy, it’s already been more than a year, yet the album still comes across as fresh and unspoiled.
The band continues with “Irgendwie“ exactly where they left off with their debut album. The lyrics are still written from the perspective of an observer who knows everything about the person he is observing. This observer finds the right words and hits the right formulations. He strikes to the heart.
The first song on the album that hit me hard on the first listen is the third track “Windmühlen“. A text that is quickly understandable yet has so many references and allusions that the song gains more depth with each listen. Thematically, it’s about someone who is not understood by their supposed partner, but this someone also cannot break away from the partner.
Why is one not understood?
And why do you still like this person so much?
Masochism vs. love.
Next up is “Entweder“. The lyrics are similarly good and feature this wonderful line:
…Turn off your head, turn on the music…
How often do we think that? Every time we come home? Every Friday? And what does this escape bring?
Ah, it’s just annoying, all these questions.
LOVE A really excels at this. They don’t ask, but they manage to make you ask yourself. To question yourself. To question your life.
It all sounds very much like “Psychology students making noise“. That’s probably not entirely wrong, as the band has a certain intellect, which the listener also needs.
Before I finish, I want to share the first lines of the song “Der tausendste Affe“:
Your friend the tree is dead. The white doves are tired,
Andreas Frege, on the other hand, is still holding on.
After all these years, it seems to me this is the crusade against order.
But at least, somehow still here.
The song “Der tausendste Affe“ can be understood as a song against Die Toten Hosen, but it can also be understood differently.
Establishment vs. punk.
Order vs. aging gentleness.
Personal mental health vs. societal illness.
“Irgendwie“ seems to me to be almost meaner than “Eigentlich“, although the lyrics on the debut album were somehow more accessible, but actually this release is not bad.
What Supernichts are to German-speaking punk rock, LOVE A are to German-speaking indie post-punk. Somewhere between Supernichts, the old Goldene Zitronen (back when they were still good), and anarchic noise punk.
