Album Review: Zwakkelmann – Papa Punk

Full disclosure – my conversational German is not up to the job of translating every lyrical nuance of this, the eighth Zwakkelmann album. This review, therefore, is based almost entirely on what it sounds like.  What I can say straight away is that there is an immediately apparent musical kinship with legendary German punks Die Ärzte and Farin Urlaub, with whom they share an idiosyncratic approach to the art of making music. There is a wide spectrum of musical touchpoints in these 20 tracks and a predilection for spoken word and found sound snippets between songs. I don’t know if this is a Teutonic trait: Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen also do it. It adds humour and intimacy to the record, and I like it. The breadth of the musical styles here makes this an intriguing listen that works perfectly well without full comprehension, even if the vocal and intermissions are lost on you.

Zwakkelmann do punk very well. The iconoclastic approach, mixing styles and genres make this a very pure punk record. It’s anti-genre and refuses to conform to the narrow definition of punk that some seem to crave. What I can untangle from this recording is that in most cases, these are songs with stories or social comment to make and are full of contemporary cultural references; any album with a song title that translates as Stupid Nazi Bride is OK by me.

My first run-through of the album came to a grinding halt when I came to Miss Verständnis (Miss Understanding), which is a sublime New Wave moment redolent of Men At Work and, oddly, The Beautiful South. This song captured my heart and is sure to remain a firm favourite. 

All in all, a cracking album and I feel it is disrespectful of me to wish that it had been sung in English. Don’t let the language barrier put you off. Give this a spin and enjoy.

Zwakkelmann‘s website is here