Aaahhhh, after a long time, I finally have a piece of polyvinyl chloride, in other words, a vinyl record in front of me. Great for home and my turntable, but it needs to be dusted off again (every 3-6 months), since I mostly listen to music in the car, it’s convenient that there’s also a download code for these 11 songs as MP3s included, as a 30cm x 1.5mm thick disc doesn’t fit well in a CD/MP3 car radio.
On the first side of this Berlin split EP, THE INCREDIBLE HERRENGEDECK wants to delight me, and on the second side (or vice versa?) the unknown DIE ARMEE DER ZEIGEFINGER. However, the delight from HERRENGEDECK doesn’t happen right away, because unlike their first 5 records, their first two punk rock songs on this split EP don’t really get me going. In "A.C.A.B.", I miss the momentum to throw the "Mollis" (fitting for the album title "Molli & Korn"), and "Minimalkonsens Bier" (where is the "Korn"?) just annoys me after hearing it 8 times with its 2 minutes of chatter (out of 3 ¾ minutes) in the middle. However, this changes dramatically from the third song "Klaus vs. Kai". 2 ½ minutes about Klaus, the squatter, and Kai, the cop, delightful... And then "Polonaise im Präsidium" is wonderful.... This earworm will not only be on repeat during Carnival!!! With the melodic "Wasserwerfer" song, not only does the night end, but also the THE INCREDIBLE HERRENGEDECK contribution on this split EP, the HERRENGEDECK side after 13 ¾ minutes.
With DIE ARMEE DER ZEIGEFINGER, it’s a bit different; here, the chaos days reign, these milestones appear in 2 of the 6 songs. In the first song "Asozialypse Now", the chaos days in Karlsruhe 2012 (!) are sung about, so it’s no surprise that the 6 songs were created over 6 years, from 2012 to 2018. And DIE ARMEE DER ZEIGEFINGER is actually just $ire Uwe Stahl, but on the record, current and former members from about 10 bands participate.... for example, KNOCHENFABRIK, WIZO, EGOTRONIC, etc., so it can take 6 years for 6 songs... The second chaos days song is called "zum 2. Hauptsatz der Thermodynamik" and takes place in Kreuzberg. The song "Lütticher Straße 40" is harder to locate, as the street exists in many cities like Cologne, Düsseldorf, Aachen, Berlin, etc. With the lyrics "Bullen auf dem Hermannplatz" in "Bier Slayer" (accordingly, the ZEIGEFINGER music is also "heavier punk" ;-) ) and "Finanzamt Tiergarten" in "In einem Meer aus Geranien heirate ich ein Pferdemädchen", it’s clear that this can only be about Berlin. The last one left is "Inselhüpfen 2000", so out of Berlin to the beach... just kidding, ALL LIES and it’s back to Kreuzberg (to see St. Pauli!). In short, the 6 punk rock songs are amazing! Awesome Awesome Awesome WITHOUT LIES! And thus ends the DIE ARMEE DER ZEIGEFINGER contribution on this split EP, the ZEIGEFINGER side after 14 ⅔ minutes.
9 of the 11 songs are a blast... That makes 8.18 points + the usual bonus point for vinyl!!!
