A record by Ken Jebsen? The tin foil hat from the Brandenburg Gate?
Oh no, it says KEN HETZEN and the guys who came up with this are from Dortmund, the urban planning and architectural gem at the entrance of the Ruhr area.
KEN HETZEN have titled their first album after their band name. Alongside the lettering, which only really stands out on the vinyl cover, as it is only available there in printed form, there is a close-up. It is a close-up of a street pigeon. The colors shimmer beautifully on its neck. Many people dislike these animals, some even call them air rats, and KEN HETZEN has chosen a portrait of a body part as the cover image.
Interpretation: Scruffy street punk?
Result: Definitely.
Justification:
Finally, a band that hits hard! Fast, loud, and uncompromising. Hardcore? If you consider short German punk wreckage pieces as hardcore, then yes. For me, this is refreshing, full of anger, and without any consideration. You could almost say these are guys in their early 20s who have more anger than skill. But that is absolutely no disadvantage, quite the opposite.
Now the guys are no longer in their early 20s, but they have the energy as if they were. This is recorded primal scream therapy!
KEN HETZEN are stylistically not easy to categorize. I think of LOVE A but also of the Berliners HAUSVABOT and certainly also TOXOPLASMA.
With these nine pieces, KEN HETZEN show that punk is not dead yet. Rather, they even give hope that a revival will be successful.
Alongside the powerful, fast music, it is also the lyrics that are neither flat nor overly intellectual, but simply shouted out and are very refreshing in their clarity and truth. No ifs, ands, or let’s relativize.
Whether "Bachelor of Arsch" (essentially the aggressive successor to "Das war ihr Leben" by Terrorgruppe) or "Konversation Exekution". Rarely in recent times has there been such clear, one could say, uncompromising criticism of humanity.
And rarely has such a short recording been received.
What?
Already over?
But that is also the only point of criticism for KEN HETZEN!
Nine songs, nine times full marks. I am blown away!
Result: It’s hard to do better. With stars and bees.
