Every day when you step outside, you encounter at least one person that makes you wonder when that person decided to stop participating in evolution. Are they all crazy, or am I?
Every day when you turn on the TV and watch the news or RTL2 or both, you ask yourself, what is going on out there? What are people doing to themselves and to others?
Not just here, but worldwide.
It’s “madness worldwide”!
POPPERKLOPPER has really hit the nail on the head with the title of their new album. The cover of the new album looks exactly like the world. Out of joint. War, destruction, racism, greed, wildfires...
Founded in the turning year of 1989 and always remaining a trio. Carsten and Lars have been there from the beginning, which is anything but a given. I would love to provide a brief overview of the band's work, which was founded in the Eifel, and how they have affected and continue to affect me. However, if I were to start that, this would no longer be a review but would turn into a small book. I would gladly write that if there should be something along the lines of “Tribute to Popperklopper” or “How Popperklopper Shapes the People Around Them”.
So let’s focus on the twelfth album (or thirteenth, depending on how you count).
It was a bit like Christmas, well, like St. Nicholas, when the CD arrived and I removed the plastic wrap. So this is the new work. Full of anticipation, I placed the silver disc in the player, turned it up, and began to listen.
“Ah yes, this is Popperklopper!”
“This is a new song.”
“Oh, is this new? Sounds typically Popperklopper.”
A little dialogue from the cozy home.
This typical song is “Panic and Fear (S.O.S.)”. This song has everything the band stands for. Fast riffs, aggressive guitar playing, a driving drumbeat, and intelligent lyrics. A top-notch pogo number. A song that is 100% POPPERKLOPPER.
The band has also invited a few guests to the studio in their 34th year. Among others, Gunnar from Dritte Wahl and Sven from Graupause contribute vocals. The guests support the band but take up relatively little space.
POPPERKLOPPER has captured 13 songs on this album that are very diverse. There are the already mentioned top-notch pogo numbers, there are '77 street punk tracks, and there are rock pieces where singer and guitarist Carsten can really express himself on his instrument, with a few small or larger influences that don’t always come from punk.
Diversity is something we know from previous albums, including that some pieces are sung in English. Songs with Patti Pattex are certainly the most well-known tracks here.
The lyrics are, as always with POPPERKLOPPER, close to life. The lyrics deal with sexism, drug addiction, the development of people, and the development of the world and humanity in general and in particular.
WAHNSINN WELTWEIT is a typical album by POPPERKLOPPER, yet a development can be heard, and of course, the life experience of the trio plays into the songs, which are often sung in the first person. This makes the lyrics very personal, very tangible, and understandable.
There are many people who, like me, got to know POPPERKLOPPER in the early 1990s and have been accompanying this band ever since. This not only shows loyalty but also the great class of the band. Even though POPPERKLOPPER no longer plays as much as they did in the first 15 years of their existence, the anticipation for the next concert is all the greater.
POPPERKLOPPER, you have made a great album!
See you in 2024!
