Bilderbuch
Schick Schock

Here it is, I found my album of 2015.

Unless there are major upheavals or new stratospheric releases, "Schick Schock" by the Viennese Bilderbuch will be my album of the year. Starting quietly on my pod, they gradually climbed positions, carving a clear path through the competition. But who are they? What are they? What do they play? Austrians? Do they make the usual kraut-rock music now crammed into every song?

Calm down, let's go in order. The Bilderbuch (translatable as picture book) are 4 Austrian lads with faces you'd want to slap, slackers and goofballs who at first glance you wouldn’t bet an Athens euro on. So why? Maybe just for their extremely tacky, flashy, or rustic music, yet mysteriously engaging. It might be their danceable and funky attitude, maybe that penetrating and decisive bass supporting every piece, or the guitar that breaks free in solos way past their prime. They are people for the hit parade, pop and radio-friendly without a doubt. Music miles away from my usual listens but....

It took just a listen to "Spliff" (careful Danny, not to be confused with the Spliff, the group born from the end of the collaboration between Nina Hagen and the Nina Hagen Band) to get me involved with their music, steeped in straightforward sexuality of a Sunday afternoon disco (for teenagers, to be clear). A deeper look into "Maschin" was enough to astonish me and ensnare me in their poses beyond normal decency (for those who don’t believe, please take a look at the wonderful video of "Plansch"). Not content, I had the nonsense refrain of "Softdrink" stuck in my brain....Coca Cola, Fanta, Sprite, 7up, Pepsi, alright, alright, alright, alright, ok (start to understand the level we're at, I'm not writing now, I’m singing!!! Coca Cola, Fanta, Sprite, 7up, Pepsi, alright, alright, alright, alright, ok).

They are strange people, dynamic, young with a lot of ideas mixed into a smoothie of genres where they dip into anything and everything with abandon: hip-hop, black music, pop-rock, funk, and electronics. The tracks alternate between filtered and unfiltered voices, between synths, exaggerated guitar strokes, and omnipresent bass, sung in English and German (oh my god!).

It’s not music for everyone, it’s incredibly kitsch and light music that miraculously manages not to tire. It's music for those who want to turn off their brains, ironic music that entertains and listens with a smile on your lips.

It's krukka music, I warned you. TSCHÜß, meine lieben....