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Still, I don't quite know where to start.
And that says a lot about MDK, Mekanik Destrüktiw Kommandöh.
MDK could never be neatly categorized.
For some, it was radical punk; for others, it was just a few people who wanted to provoke and didn't shy away from the left scene that tried to co-opt them.
Musically, MDK was never classic punk. It was music that once had its cornerstones somewhere between the trendy punk avant-garde, (Cold) Wave, NDW, and somehow rock music.
Thus, MDK not only broke through listening habits but also managed to engage people with the music, their performances, and their statements.
Whether it was “Die tödliche Doris” or “Jello Biafra,” everyone somehow had to do with MDK.
They had seen the band or heard what the band had done.
Meanwhile, Volker Hauptvogel (founder and singer of the band) was also active as an actor. In “Nekromantik” by Jörg Buttgereit, he is the one who shoots the neighbor with an air rifle, who then becomes essential as a corpse for the further plot of the film.
MDK calls their new album “Manifestation.” A sung manifesto?
Political?
Anarchistic?
Provocative?
And what about the music?
Cold rock beats, underlaid with a dry, almost mystical saxophone, electronic effects, and a vocal style that often breaks normal song structures. The lyrics are sung often as fragments.
The lyrics are assertive, such as “One no longer lives in the neighborhood” (a change depicted with alarmingly simple words that has been taking place in Berlin and other major cities for years).
“Everything in the ass” highlights human greed for wanting to have it all. In drastic words that grab you by the shoulders and shake you. Is this what we want? Loans, loyalty points, all-inclusive? Wanting more and more? And when it can’t go on anymore? Whatever....
With “Take the Life,” it’s not about singing about suicide, but rather about the value of life and that one should do something with it. It’s life that one should grasp and utilize. Live... Live!
This unique music with lyrics that hit the nerve of the times creates something that has long existed only in homeopathic doses for most people. One listens intently, leaning towards the music, the lyrics.
MDK is something completely different from everything else!
It is truly something “new.” Something new, something old. Something different. PUNK!
The album was produced by Jon Caffery (among others, producer of albums by Die Toten Hosen).
The production was highly financed by Dirk Felsenheimer (drummer, Die Ärzte).
