THE BUTTERWEGGE is releasing a new album.
It is now their 5th album.
Butter, who?
The head of the band, Carsten Butterwegge, seems to be quite a jack-of-all-trades in the Ruhr area. In addition to producing music and his commitment to DIE PARTEI, he also has his band THE BUTTERWEGGE, and “Everyone Goes Crazy” is the fifth album.
I was not familiar with either the band or the person.
That has now changed.
The thirteen songs on this album feature a colorful mix of pop-punk, ska-punk, klezmer-influenced punk rock, and a lot of catchiness.
The band THE BUTTERWEGGE starts, like so many before them, with a song that celebrates itself and the fans. Wasn't that already overdone and boring in 2021?
The second song “Everyone Goes Crazy” can be categorized somewhere between punk rock and carnival music. Phew, I think, is this how it’s going to continue?
“No Desire” has a bit more depth, and with “Everything's Broken” comes the first song that, while thematically not new, is at least right and important. We are destroying everything in the world. We are destroying our own habitat and all life on this planet. You can't say and hear that often enough. Maybe something will change after all. Success through persistence would be a good thing here.
Another hit is “The Best.” A reckoning with the ex that couldn't be better. Care for some lyrical quotes:
...the best thing about you was me...
...A little house in the Palatinate, I don't care, I got my life back and he has you by the neck...
We dream of a better world. So does THE BUTTERWEGGE with “Better World.”
Why dream at all? If everyone just moves a little bit...
“Germany” is also a very good song. Here, the hypocrisy of the affluent society's concern for the misery of others is portrayed very vividly.
Alongside these gems, there are also some things that rub me the wrong way.
“Punks Are Here” with a children's choir sounds a bit like carnival and overly cheerful. And whether one should make a song with the title “Everyone Against the Wall” given Germany's past is something I also question. Yes, I know that Die Lokalmatadore also have a song with that title, but that doesn't mean I like that song. And whether I like “Drink with Me” I still don't know.
I believe what makes me roll my eyes throughout this entire album is a certain coercion to be in a good mood.
So I am left with a mixed conclusion.
Not currywurst.
Not beer and schnapps.
Not Alt and schnäpperken
But something in between.
