Today on the dissection table: The new album from my old heroes Wizo.
Exactly 20 years after the hit album "Uuaargh!" was released, the sixth studio album in 30 years of band history is now here. When we got into punk rock as teenagers in the 90s, this band was on everyone's lips. Every punk had a T-shirt from them, really everyone found the sound absolutely crazy, and even girls who normally couldn't care less about punk loved ballads like "W8ing 4 U" or "Das goldene Stück".
The band toured their asses off through the stuffy clubs and festivals of the republic. They also toured in Europe, Japan, and the USA. Wizo achieved success after success. 500,000 records sold, the first deal of a German punk band in the USA, videos on MTV and VIVA. Additionally, little scandals drew attention. Unforgettable is their performance at the legendary Chaostage in 1995, the promo gig for Manfred Krug, or the clash with WDR and the censorship of "Kein Gerede". What has always set Wizo apart for me is their sense of melody and their high skills in songwriting. They master their instruments excellently, are not shy of any joke, and Axel Kurth's raspy voice is so distinctive that you can recognize it from thousands. Wizo was never the ultra punk band but always had the charm of a small-town band, which made them very likable.
Well then, let's take out the scalpel and cut open the old body and see how the organs are doing. It's easy to see that age has taken its toll here. You can tell the liver has seen its punk rock years, and the heart has already had its third bypass. It's clear that everything isn't as easy anymore.
The cover makes it clear that the old gentlemen want to show they still have it. The cover of "Uuaargh" has been redesigned, and now alongside the Fert, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza can be seen. I find the idea original, but I also wonder what it tells us that the old knight, who keeps charging at windmills, is depicted here? Not only the cover leans on "Uuaargh", but the intro also begins with the familiar "Hmmmm...who are you?"
Then the music kicks in. The "Seegurke" spews its guts out. I really crapped my pants from so much wit. And not only that fell flat. The music and the lyrics feel hastily put together, and the drum machine is just annoying. It's completely different with my favorites on the album. The love declaration "Königin" is the strongest song on the album. Everything just fits. The song flows wonderfully, and the lyrics are tight, vivid, and above all, believable. Treat your loved ones to this song. :-)
The song "Kohlenholen" has a beautifully morbid text that could have come from the Misfits or Georg Kreisler. Here, the woman is slaughtered and sawed up and wrapped in a Bossa Nova. Brilliant mix. Stronger songs include "Scheißekotzen" about getting older, the 80s rock ballad "Zombiemann", or the anthem "Alte Herren". Musically and lyrically, the rest can be categorized from "it's okay" to "can be thrown in the bin".
This album also features a few political statements, which I find very good and important. "Scheißefresser" is critical of our eating habits and the food industry, and "Ganz klar gegen Nazis" speaks for itself; zero tolerance against Nazis. Additionally, there’s "Unpoliddisch", which was already released two years ago under the pseudonym "Total Verboilt". Here, all the right-wing idiots are beautifully ridiculed.
So why has Wizo made such a crappy album?
I listened to the entire body of work of the band yesterday and would even say it’s even more different than "Anderster". The songs feel forced, uninspired, and tense. The album is patchwork. Each song somehow stands alone, and there’s a smell of writer's block everywhere. Everything is well-produced, but it sounds too mechanical, too polished, and too much like plastic music. The dynamics of the old recordings are completely missing. Every spark of life has been stifled in its infancy. Some songs are also over-arranged in places.
It might have been better to release this whole thing under the solo project XLQ. It has little to do with Wizo as we knew them from the 90s. Only mastermind Axel Kurth remains from this lineup. One could say that the fluctuation of band members in recent years has a bit of a Guns'n Roses vibe. The unmistakable turning point for Wizo was the departure of Charly, an original and highly talented drummer. After that, things went downhill for Wizo. I believe that if Axel, Charly, and Jörni can overcome their interpersonal barriers after all these years and start fresh, Wizo could still have a brilliant future.
In this sense, stay brave!
