BOYKOTT? Until now, I only knew BOIKOT, a Spanish punk band.
BOYKOTT comes from Schwedt / Oder, which generally gives them some plus points. After all, the state of Brandenburg is not exactly blessed with good bands, and I actually don't know a single band from Schwedt / Oder.
So here I have a record in a nice digipack in front of me, on which the five guys are now presenting their second album. While researching, I was initially shocked because the band has been around for 10 years. That's quite a long time! However, it also shows how difficult it is for a small band to make a name for themselves. The guys are going to do that with a lot of commitment in the coming months. Almost every small and larger club in Berlin will be played, until there will be a gala evening for the band on November 19, 2011. They will then play with Kumpelbasis and Toxpack at Berlin's S.O. 36. Best of luck with that, guys!
Now let's get to the actual object of desire.
The cover of “Plan B” evokes associations with Broilers for me. It shows a street in the warm south, and the title of the album is clearly visible on a wall. Broilers once had a very similar cover artwork with the “La Vida Loca E.P.”. In the inner cover, the band is showing off and is depicted arm wrestling in a glossy photo. Well staged, but it feels too much like a facade to me. Somehow I have a bad premonition about what awaits me.
The first song starts after a pretty cool intro. It fits perfectly with the subculture. The quote in the intro “I always had healthy, normal people around me” is very fitting. Probably all readers have experienced something similar when it came to rebelling. That's what the teachers, relatives, and all the squares with their blinders and self-satisfied notions of good and evil said. And that brings us right to the point. The first song “Letzte Grüße” is musically a solid rock banger. Despite the band's declaration against being a Deutschrock band, I would open that drawer here. The sound isn't that different. However, the lyrics have more substance. They are partly cryptic, partly allusive, partly reflective, and yet cohesive. Still, I would like to hear an explanation from the band about the following lines:
…take a lighter in hand
for your stupidity is contagious
Who can rightly claim to be German,
is not alone.
In the context of the entire song, I think I know where the band is going, but the lines can also be understood differently. Thoughts of burning asylum homes cross my mind. It might be worth questioning this with the band. In the further lyrics, there is a strong critique against Deutschrock bands, which surprises me since BOYKOTT's sound is really not much different. Well, one can also keep the competition at a distance with kicks.
The second song “In Gottes Namen” fits like a fist to the wrinkled face of Pope Benedict, who held a mass at the Olympic Stadium today. The same place where the Nazis once marched and the church supported this war. Thus, the circle closes. “In Gottes Namen” is an intelligent song that highlights the abuse in the Catholic Church from the perspective of a victim. A text that goes deep.
After that, at least lyrically, it goes strongly into the personal, into the emo corner. Some may like it, others may find it boring. In any case, it moves a bit away from the Deutschrock corner, as these lyrics would not be offered by a typical 08/15 Deutschrock band. So does the critique from the first song hold true?
With “Ohne Kurs kein Ziel,” it then moves out of the personal, contemplative, melancholic corner towards Frankfurt / Main. Towards Onkelz. It’s again this same old attitude of “Me against the rest of the world” that gets reheated and resonates with enough people. Why is that? After all, the song offers quite interesting guitar playing, but lyrically it is no better than all the other already written songs about the mindset that all Onkelz fans identify with. This path has never been mine and will never be.
When reading the title of the next song “Ein kleines bisschen Subkultur,” I immediately thought of Zaunpfahl. They wrote a song called “Subkultur,” which is very similar to the title in the chorus. The lyrics fit too. Did BOYKOTT take a little peek at Teterow?
It doesn't have to be bad to see what others are doing, but I can't shake the feeling that this song bears some similarities to Zaunpfahl not entirely by chance. Liking another band is then celebrated with the cover of “Durstige Männer,” probably the most famous song by the Dimple Minds. I've heard that song done better, but live it will surely be celebrated.
As the last song, “Plan B” comes, which is the title track of the album. Not a bad track, but I can slowly no longer listen to these songs for ten, fifteen, or whatever anniversary. The lyrics always revolve around the same themes.
Overall, “Plan B” by BOYKOTT is different from normal Deutschrock. However, the sound is so rocky that they don't completely break out of that corner. I would call it emo-rock, although that doesn't quite hit the nail on the head, but the direction is right.
Perhaps BOYKOTT is to the Deutschrock scene what Broilers are to the Oi scene.
