Oh dear, the metal label STF Records is extending its feelers into the punk area and has taken the band FINE GENTLEMEN from Strausberg near Berlin under its wing. The result is the CD “Thought Game”.
The cover does not bode well. The faces of the four band members are shown in an absolutely uninspired way, with a cloud of fog above it featuring the title of the album. I wouldn’t dare to release something like that as a label, and as a band, I would be ashamed if that cover adorned my album. Extremely off-putting! The cover suggests something terrible. Why do I always sense something bad with releases from STF Records?
In my eyes, the label has a knack for more or less unspectacular and boring bands, not to say for rubbish. There have been decent records before, but the recent outputs have really been something for the recycling yard.
But let’s not complain without having heard FINE GENTLEMEN.
The first song “Now More Than Ever!” isn’t half bad. It sounds extremely like Abwärts. Like Abwärts from the newer era, that is, from the albums “Nuprop” and “Rom”. The structure of the lyrics is just like that of Frank Z. and his crew. It’s not a bad reference, but it also doesn’t sound new, rather like fans of Abwärts trying to play the band’s songs more poorly than well.
The second song “We” is not even that bad lyrically, but it should rather be sung by a sincere Oi band or by the local heroes from Mülheim an der Ruhr. You would believe the lyrics from them, but I can’t buy that the guys from FINE GENTLEMEN party and have fun until 7:00 AM.
It may be that I am blinded by the optics and the music, but there’s simply nothing behind it (except perhaps the wish to be that way and to actually have fun with the cool guys until 7:00 AM).
The song “Coma” tries to be a rock ballad for a change. Trying is to be taken literally here. Embarrassing song. Really rough, it doesn’t work at all.
FINE GENTLEMEN offer us ten songs. Ten songs too many!
In defense of the band, one can at least concede that they are trying to copy the style of music and songwriting of Abwärts. No more plus points. FINE GENTLEMEN offer a kind of industrial rock that my ear canals absolutely refuse.
