Marina Zettl – 13th October, 12-2pm

Marina Zettl – 13th October, 12-2pm

“I don’t like Jazz, reminds me of a man caterwauling when I was sixteen. But I liked that.”
Sitting in Penny Street Bridge, it’s hard to see what the big deal is about the venue or the band. Twenty minutes until they are due on stage and the room is almost empty. Marina and her band are running late; it only turned out to be an hour an twelve minutes which is an eternity for impatient types such as myself. However their epic tale to get to Lancaster started with a late taxi which had made them late for everything else. Enticed by free samples of two ales – Tavern Porter and Old Dan – it was clear to see why some of the customers chose to stay as they didn’t fit the elegant look of the venue. The venue has a slight air of someone wearing a designer gown with flip flops hidden underneath. Once you saw past the elegance of Penny Street Bridge you saw the ‘flip flops’ – the bits that didn’t fit in such as the tattooed metal fan who was tapping away on drums as he set them up and ruining the calm atmosphere, or the visible vent in the ceiling.

The interaction of band to audience is that between friends, in each member you see something that was reminiscent about a friend you have. There was Klaus the new drummer who is the friend stuck in the past with the air of 1980’s East German about him; then you have Thomas the guitarist who is the trendsetter friend; finally is Marina the singer who is the leader and takes charge, knowing full well what she wants. Marina and her band hail from Vienna, Austria which is reflected in two of their songs. Vor Deiner Tür which in English is ‘In front of your door’ and completely sung in German, the other song was Almost Written which has a slower tempo and is their interpretation of the Austrian Waltz. The set is played in two halves. The first half is lively and bubbly which was contrasted by a soothing, almost like a lullaby like second half. The second half fitted perfectly into the atmosphere of the venue, the second half is the designer gown.

Review: Lautonom –Killerpilze

The band Killerpilze, come from a town in southern Germany called Dillingen an der Donau, they were formed in 2002. The band now consists of brothers Johannes ‘Jo’ (rhythm guitar and lead vocals) and Fabian ‘Fabi’ Halbig (drums) as well as their friend Maximillian ‘Max’ Schlichter (lead guitar and backing vocals). One of the original founding members – Andreas Schlagenhaft – who was also the bass player left the band in 2007.
Killerpilze are highly successful within mainland Europe but are rarely heard anywhere else. Yet despite their success it is rare for albums and their singles to reach the top ten in the music charts.

Lautonom is their third album, however it is their first under their own label – Killerpilze records. The formation of their own record label has given the band more creative control which many bands don’t receive until four or five albums down the line; also given that when the album was released the members of the band where 17, 20 and 21 respectively it is amazing that they produced an album of great quality. Even though Lautonom signifies a more mature album compared to Invasion der Killerpilze and Mit Punken und Raketen you can hear some of the immaturity from their lack of worldly experience. What they lack in worldly experience, they more than make up in music that is just addictive to the point where you think around the 40th play you might have a problem. Of the 13 track record, two songs stand out more than the rest.

The first of these two songs is Lieblingssong which translates to favourite song. Lieblingssong is a love song and its unique in that it does not sound harsh or insincere which is sometimes the case with love songs, especially those in German as it can sound very harsh to the ear. It’s not the wet blanket love song either which just doesn’t sound great. Lieblingssong has found the perfect place between insincere and overdone. The second of these two songs is Plastik. I have a love hate relationship with the song. I love it because the band is basically telling the world they won’t be this commodity like many musicians become. The hate part of the song is the end, it wasn’t necessary to have the sound of vomiting at the end of the song. There is such a thing as taking a point too far, even in music.

Overall the album is certainly worth the 41 minute listening time.
Recommended for fans of: Tokio Hotel, Blink 182, Simple Plan and Good Charlotte.