30 years of POPPERKLOPPER.
Does anyone still remember what a Popper was? You really have to dig deeper into the internet. Is the band name outdated?
Names are like sound and smoke.
POPPERKLOPPER represents 30 years of uncompromising (German) punk.
The first albums like “Kalashnikov Blues” and “Wer sich nicht wehrt...” were and still are albums that you cannot overlook. But the double 7” “Nadel verpflichtet” should not go unmentioned either. In fact, no album by the band should go unmentioned.
30 years of putting a finger in the wound.
30 years of protest.
Now comes the birthday cake, uh, record. “Alles wird Wut” is the name of the release, featuring 13 tracks. 10 songs in German and three songs in English. This is a commitment to their roots. English lyrics have been present since the early days, and even more so when they met Patti Patex (Cut my Skin). She is also featured on this album, singing the song “Rebel Heart.”
In the first song “Kein Land in Sicht,” the band briefly describes the situation we live in and addresses the accusations of repeating grievances as follows:
I know I’m not saying this for the first time,
but as long as nothing changes here,
I have no other choice.
It is indeed the case that if you listen to the first releases of the guys who originally come from the Eifel, the themes have remained similar to this day, not because they have run out of ideas, but because nothing has changed for the better. However, this is not just a specialty of POPPERKLOPPER. It affects many, if not all punk bands that have existed for several years.
The second song features a piece in A, F, and D. It is the already released single “Wir sind mehr.” A beautiful, melodic punk rock song against the right-wing filth that does not disappear but, on the contrary, is increasing. A song that ranks among the best on the record.
It continues somewhat cynically with “Bomben für die Welt.” The title is a play on the church relief organization “Brot für die Welt.”
Clear conscience through double standards
People die from German steel
And we keep delivering
Bombs for the world
A song with a lot of text, a lot of truth, and helplessness. We simply cannot reach the arms lobbyists, politicians, and capitalists to effectively stop arms exports. What do the employees of Rheinmetall, Heckler & Koch, and Co. think when they assemble their weapons? What are they thinking? Why are they doing this?
And why don’t we take action against it (effectively and permanently)? There are countries without armies. They have not been occupied so far, and they are not worse off.
“Auf ins Wunderland” is a song about drug addiction. A topic that is present in the scene and about which POPPERKLOPPER has always written songs.
Then there’s a text for the youth “Generation App.” A song that may be a bit weaker than the previous ones, but does not hold back on criticism.
Sick society, “Sick society,” the first English-language song on the album, slows down the tempo a bit and can almost be classified as alternative rock. Lyrically deeply resigned, yes hopeless.
Don’t wanna live in this sick society
All these fools
mean nothing to me
However, we are still “Not Dead Enough.” One of the few songs that include nature conservation. Nature conservation and animal protection are big paper tigers, but toothless as soon as economic interests come into play. Economy always comes first. We are destroying our planet, our habitat, learning hardly anything, and are simply not dead enough yet. Otherwise, the destruction of, for example, rainforests, moors, seas, lakes, and soils would have to stop.
We know it, but we don’t care
Will Homo sapiens eventually pass by like a disease?
“Lieber tanz ich” is meant for the sing-along crowd. Compared to the previous lyrics, it’s simpler, especially in the chorus. Here too, at the end of the song, there is resignation.
First comes the food, then comes the morality!
Resigned, it continues with “That’s what brings me down.”
Dead-end revolution - it’s a shame.
One could also say that “Not Dead Enough” and “That’s what brings me down” share the same essence. We know we are heading towards the abyss, we know about the ruin, but do we brake? Do we jump off?
The “Course of Things” describes what we all probably know. At least all over 30. Namely, that after years of soul connection, there is nothing left to say, and the old spirit, the energy from before, is no longer there. You can’t always be angry, but it’s sad. What do we give up our ideals for? And why?
Then comes “Rebel Heart,” the song by Patti Patex. A song of a doubting spirit, can we still make a difference? Yes! No! Maybe?!
Consumer criticism comes with “Für jeden was dabei” and includes several (adapted) advertising slogans from the past to take a ride on the mountain of debt and experience happiness through consumption there.
To put it in the words of “666”:
When you’re really deep in shit
Then there’s no more 666
At that moment, everyone is equal,
even the tough ones become soft
Played hardness, boasting, the perfect facade, to the point of embarrassment.
Must it be?
The 13 songs cover the entire spectrum of what the band has created over the last 30 years. Lyrically, thematically, musically.
