ANALSTAHL – Pillepalle Gemüsehalle
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Analstahl... Anal Steel... really now? The band name made me expect some cryptofascist Neue Deutsche Härte, and when I read that they are a punk band, I was steeling myself – pun intended – for this very simplistic kind of German dumb punk as it was played in the late eighties. But often things turn out quite differently than anticipated. So yes, Analstahl are a punk band, from Munich in the south of Germany, founded in the early nineties, releasing a couple of records back then. I listened a lot of punk and hardcore back in the day, but never heard of these guys. Not being familiar with their early work, I can only write about the new album Pillepalle Gemüsehalle that left me rather speechless. There are twenty-six tracks just under three quarters of an hour, most songs are kept nicely under two minutes. The production is incredibly rough, like an album recorded live in the studio. The energy is tremendous and really takes me back to the nineties when punk was more about attitude than it seems to be today. The band consists of a vocalist, a guitarist, a bassist, a drummer and a turntablist, who adds occasional hip hop parts, which is already quite unusual. The music is inspired by a lot of artists, mostly from the past: Black Flag, Slime, just to name two that are mentioned by the band, but I also made out influences from Dead Kennedys and Ton Steine Scherben. The lyrics are mostly in German, while some songs also have English texts. It's impossible to write about every single track, but next to classic Deutsch punk songs (Dicke fette Spießer, Ich zünd mich an…), there are also quite different sounding tracks. No Borders Sleaford Rocks is a groovy track inspired by Sleaford Rocks, Tretbar and Rackete statt Raketen are deeply dark doom punk pieces. Nazi Punks Babylon covers Dead Kennedys’ Nazi Punks Fuck Off and Boney M’s Rivers Of Babylon in just under one minute. Revolution feels like a faster version of TSS’s Macht kaput was euch kaput macht. The lyrics alternate between fun and anger, the latter having though the bigger share. Towards the end, some steam might be lost, but all in all, Pillepalle Gemüsehalle is a great journey back to a time when punk was wild and free. Watching this band live must be quite the joy, but listening to their album gives already an strong impression of these guys’ relentless energy! |
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26 songs |
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42:39 minutes |
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***** **** |
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Genre: punk Label: Gutfeeling |
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