Beatsteaks
Smacksmash

Dirty but not too much, angry just enough, goofy and rock n' roll sufficient to be in heavy rotation during those aimless trips where the kilometers are proportional to the desire to detach the mind for a while, temporarily leaving the scream inside to someone else.
Here come the Beatsteaks, five Berliners who, on their third work, decide to plug in the jacks, invite friends and acquaintances, and record all the tracks live, thus managing to create an impactful and convincing album.

The vocal cords of the leader Armin Teutoburg-Weiß, shaped by a life of excesses on the road, scratch over a soundscape that blends punk, hardcore, rock n’ roll, and funk even reaching reggae influences.
Big Attack and Vision kick things off, warning the curious that the driving bass and sharp riffs are nothing but the prelude to a sonic and vocal explosion that spares no one.
The due homage to Joe Strummer (Hello Joe), takes on a more rhythmic and less intense turn, just like in Hand In Hand, the first single released, which, on an almost funky foundation, is interrupted by the fury of the chorus.
From here, it's a succession of episodes of violent anger as in Everything, alternating with slightly more relaxed and vaguely reggae atmospheres (I Don't Care As Long As You Sing), where for a moment you get a whiff of "Reggatta De Blanc," until reaching 80's pop echoes (Atomic Love).

The result impresses in its cohesiveness; twelve tracks that flow briskly, with rhythmic and vocal solutions that are always engaging and never too banal.
It is precisely the splendid, tormented voice of the singer, capable of inventing interesting and dirty melodies at the same time, that leaves the strongest mark in an album well played and excellently produced, resulting in one of the most convincing punk n' roll products in recent times.