So ALARMSIGNAL has now also come of age.
Defined by me at my first concert of the band as the little brother of Rasta Knast, they are now more well-known and attract a larger audience than the venerable band from Celle. Sometimes the two bands from Celle still perform together. On those evenings, one can easily compare the similarities and differences between both bands.
ALARMSIGNAL are clearer in their lyrics, not as abstract as Rasta Knast, and they are of course also younger. This also distinguishes the audience. ALARMSIGNAL has been and is more of a gateway drug when it comes to German-speaking punk rock.
Now this gateway drug has also grown up and presents a new album, "Attaque," their seventh album. The tricky seventh album.
Anyone who knows ALARMSIGNAL surely has certain expectations. The band definitely meets these expectations. For the most part, there is what one knows from the band: fast, melodic punk rock songs. Thematically, the band moves on the safe terrain of punk rock. At least the album starts that way and almost makes one suspect that the band has neither aged nor wants to change anything musically.
The first song "Fuck You" is indeed an extended middle finger and a powerful statement, but nothing more. That's all good, and I would sign every line of it, but it's also nothing new.
The second song "Fertig (mit euch und eurer Welt)" is the logical continuation of the first song from the last album "Which part of Fuck off don’t you understand." Somehow also a study of the milieu. One prefers to retreat into privacy, into solitude rather than always fighting against windmills. The small victories are won with many losses. This has been the case in recent years, and I can understand that. Shouldn't the left, especially in times of the rising neo-fascists of the AfD and Co., come together and fight against old and new Nazis? Are we, who call ourselves left, really so messed up interpersonally that nothing works anymore?
It currently stands 1:10 in the "Me vs. You." Sad but true. Suggestions for solutions are welcome. A point for us is a point for hope.
Steff, songwriter, bassist, and singer seems to have a lot of resignation within him, because with "Rapide Bergab" it continues into hopelessness. Or are they rather the tracks on which one travels when one gets older, which have fewer switches, not to mention derailing? Only, where is the journey heading?
The first song that really touched me, even though it is musically played in the well-known Alarmsignal manner, is "Massaker von Celle." There are also a few explanatory lines that shock. And yet... what happened recently in Chemnitz? It happened back then, and it can happen again. Those who do not learn from the past...
The next song makes one sit up and take notice more than once, as it is musically different and very critical. Critical of the age and development of bands, friends, and surely also of fans for the band.
But it is indeed regrettable and it
is not exactly cool
when content no longer takes place
but only style
The second part of "Sklaven der Langeweile" in which a quote from Schopenhauer describes everything that needs to be said follows with "Arthur's Bekenntnis." I can't add anything more to Steff's liner notes, except that I finally need to read Schopenhauer.
Thus, over time, sympathy for the album also develops. Especially because the lyrics are very strong. These help to overcome the occasional musical boredom, as the band does not really surprise. Except, and I want to emphasize this, with the last song "Tot ist nur, wer vergessen wird." A strong, perhaps the strongest song on the album. From my perspective, the quietly and slowly played piano would have sufficed here.
An album that is surprisingly dark in its lyrics and, as I understand it, was also a kind of therapy for the band... and perhaps still is?
