As I sift through the old archives, the date January 31, 2015 catches my eye. A moment that marks the point when my last review went online. A strange feeling; and yet very nice, as a very fortunate circumstance allows me the joy of finally writing about a band that randomly sent me their latest record and sweetly asked for a review. It’s hard to say "no" to that...
I have already written about the band "Einsturz" before, and at that time, they were completely unknown to me. It’s all the more surprising to read combinations of words like "22 years" and "6 albums" on their homepage. Apparently, this band has completely escaped my notice throughout my career... all the better that they are now coming through my auditory canal once again!
At first, despite good initial experiences, I was skeptical, which may be due to my history. With titles like "Flying", "War", "Solidarity", or "Uprising", one might expect chants like "1, 2, 3, 4", "Boo, boo, boo, the state is dumb, so take stones in hand!" or "I would sell my grandmother for beer"—all underpinned by dull music (a lovely word, I know!). But fortunately, the round piece is different than I feared.
Instead of dry slogans, "Einsturz" offers stories, descriptions, or images planted directly in the listener's mind that feel more like a trip to the movies rather than a poem cast in a musical form.
"Come and close your eyes and dream yourself away from here / Let’s fly, come let’s go flying"
"Nothing moves behind the doors where the youth lives / They grin themselves into happiness, their eyes remain empty / Outside, arbitrariness rages, yet they remain uptight / Groomed and combed".
Of course, each line is not a literary outpouring of Baudelairean dimensions, but I greatly appreciate it when old themes, from which punk rock has always drawn, are wrapped up interestingly and artistically. This not only makes it a lot of fun but also changes the perspective with which one approaches the topic.
For example, the song "War" does not say "There is war!", but rather: "People are fleeing, risking their lives, are afraid, are critically eyed and not welcomed. And that’s BECAUSE the war has driven them away!". This may not make a big difference from my pen (=keyboard) now, but in context and viewed as a whole, I prefer a narrative in fairy tale format to a two-liner on an election poster to make the image more tangible.
I would especially like to highlight my personal favorite: "Groomed and Combed". This could easily be stamped as "A typical obituary for the spoiled youth", but in fact, it’s the other way around... and hits the nail on the head. Here, much more attention is drawn to the fact that the "youth of today" is more conformist than ever before and misses the otherwise so criticized "debauchery". I personally share this view as well... youth means rebellion, uprising, and disrespect; without this societal "bad conscience", the "old folks" risk stagnation and mental standstill. The complaint may arise repeatedly over the centuries (and now it’s our turn to complain!), but from a different motivation. From a sad motivation. In this sense: Great song!
Musically, there isn’t much to say, but for the right reasons. The five-member group simply knows how to use their instruments. The songs, mainly played at mid-tempo, offer a nice variety among themselves, so no song sounds the same or similar. The musical pieces are diverse, giving each one its own recognizability.
Especially the choruses stick very well in the ear and give a little taste of what one could particularly experience live: singing choirs, fists raised in the air, and scratchy throats from dryness and effort, amidst an atmosphere thick with beer mist, smoke, sweat, and other bodily fluids. And I haven’t even seen the guys live yet.
The verses, on the other hand, are very solid, but they don’t match the already mentioned chorus in terms of mood. However, in these, one can concentrate more on the lyrics and later go wild.
All in all, however, "Flying" comes across as rather fast-paced and rock-distorted. While this may ultimately be a matter of taste, I would have liked to hear one or two calmer songs.
A small downside is that this record only contains 8 songs. After almost half an hour, the fun is already over. While this may not weigh too heavily during the enjoyable run-through, as I prefer 8 good songs over 14 mediocre ones, I still hoped for one or two more hits personally.
In the end, however, I am very glad that this submission reached me. This is how German (punk) rock is fun and above all one thing: hope. Hope that in the German-speaking area, we don’t only have to look at the big names, but that there are also bands here and there worth listening to.
The songs may be fewer (compared to "Germany Freezes" with 14 pieces), but they are more coherent and don’t have any wildly large ups and downs, rather they entertain consistently, with minimal fluctuations up and down. This makes the silver disc dynamic and more cohesive, which is why I have decided on 8/10 this time, unlike before.
Keep going!
