Karies
Seid Umschlungen, Millionen
Forget about Hamburg because Swabia did it again! Well, not completely alone but the influences of the Swabian Alb are clearly noticeable. Theres a reason why "Kevin Kuhn has a lot to do" became a running gag in the town of Esslingen. After Die Nerven, All Diese Gewalt, Human Abfall, its now time for Karies - four guys scattered over Leipzig and Stuttgart. You can hear that they are musically related to Die Nerven and theres also a lyrical connection to Human Abfall - probably not only because they are from the same part of the country but also because they are friends and have worked together (Die Nervens Max Rieger produced this record). This record sounds retro and dark, the 80s and NDW are omnipresent, and the songs are melancholic and heterogeneous. It resembles Abwarts or DAF - the messages are encoded and pithy at the same time. The beats are marching and shoot the songs across the room -yes, this is punk! The vocals fire salvos like a M16, the guitars are noisy; they create a light atmosphere but weigh heavily on you at the same time.