Who among those present here is in love or has one or another dirty fantasy? Who likes music that primarily deals with this theme? If you feel addressed in any way, you might want to take a look here. Why should that be? Well, I wouldn't necessarily say 'should', but it might not be a bad idea to stop by for a moment.
Just the title basically says it all. This wordplay wasn't really necessary, as the whole album deals with themes like 'love', 'making love', or 'I want to love'. But okay, 'The First Meal' fits, so why not use it? It's certainly better than the name 'The Cruel War in the Middle East'... so that shouldn't be too disturbing at this point. The cover also looks somewhat lustful: An erotic woman's mouth seems to almost devour the band members in an oversized spoon. So you can see that the title and the cover work hand in hand. It fits quite well.
In line with the theme, the band predominantly plays 'cheerful' melodies and refrains from heavily distorted guitars. This creates a good mood and encourages sing-alongs, which is particularly noticeable at concerts. The guitar playing is clear, clean, and well-executed. There is definitely variety here, giving each song a certain recognizability. The voice sounds a bit odd, but somehow it fits the band perfectly. After all, these are almost purely personal themes that carry a small pinch of humor, which is why a 'quirky' voice might even be beneficial. However, that doesn't mean one has to be inflexible, as the song 'Revoluzza' is very calm... and the singer handles that well too! There's nothing to complain about here... except that the band might not hit everyone's taste.
Lyric-wise, it could look a bit different, though. Love is such a topic. Almost everyone has written about it for centuries. So the theme may be well-known and probably has thousands of songs on its side, unlike anything else in the world. But well, you can write a lot about it in a diverse way. That's fine. But to dedicate almost an entire album to this theme? My understanding starts to wane a bit there. Even though all the songs are relatively well-crafted, differing in lyrics and melody, the same aftertaste remains. And that can really become stale over time... like the dregs of the same beer that you just can't finish in one evening. Of course, there are one or two songs that really stand out, but the foundation is set in concrete firmer than a man who owes money to the mafia. Because whether it's about sex, being in love, love, or 'I meet my first love at a concert': somewhere it's always the same. That's a bit of a shame, although I can hardly imagine other themes for the band.
Another problem is that despite their versatile playing style, their unique character, and their funny demeanor, the band doesn't manage to entertain consistently. I can hardly say what the reason is, but perhaps it can be traced back to the aforementioned 'foundation'. The band is very suitable for background listening and adds a bit of spice to the home music cabinet, but I can't really listen to them 'regularly'. In my opinion, the style wears off too quickly – whether in lyrical or acoustic terms. It's a pity, as the guys have quite a bit to offer.
All in all, we have a record here that you can definitely give a listen to, even if its size disrupts the harmonious structure of the CD shelf. It's not a great loss if you don't have it, but without it, you might miss a small corner of the punk rock world that you can actually do something with.
Not particularly outstanding, but still quite nice. Therefore, it gets 7 out of 10 points!
