Band : 2ND District
Album title : Poverty Makes Angry
Record label : People Like You
Distributor : Hard Life Promotion
Release date : 23/01/2009
Release : CD

Bochum (Germany) based Punk Rock act 2ND District was formed in Summer 2005 after the demise of longtime running act District (they’d been at it since 1995, had their best time around ’98, and then suffered from constantly changing line-ups; they left us an assortment of singles, split releases, one early material compilation, a couple of unreleased tracks contributed to a variety of compilation albums, and one réal studio album – 2004’s Don’t Mess With The Hard Punx, issued through People Like You – for a very detailed history of District…who’ve shared stages with some of the biggest acts in ’77-style Punk, toured quite extensively in Germany and Holland, as well as the Czech Republic, Austria, and Swotzerland…check the blog at myspace.com/dictrictweb), when only remaining original member Marc Ader (lead vocals and guitar) found himself new Bochum based guitarist Daniel Klein and enlisted the services of the rhythm section of The Revolvers (band founded by former District guitarist/ singer Uwe Umbruch in 2000, and in which Ader had been active as guitarist for a while as well) in the persons of Tobbe (drummer) and Flo (bass).

The band name of the new venture was very easily found, and came from the direct fact that Ader wanted too go back to his roots again, hence 2ND District! A 7-inch titled (You’re) Young And Disorderly soon found its way to the fans thanks to the Drunk ‘n’ Roll Records imprint, and after signing to PLY, the2006 full-length Emotional Suicide sawthe light of day. This output saw the band undertake extensive touring (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Holland, Poland) in promotion of the album, and the reactions of the crowds were perfect proof that the outfit deserved to be part of the more important German bands in their genre again!

As mentioned in the bio, 2ND District’s music is a mixture of influences from such “purist” Punk Rock acts like Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Dead Boys, Slaughter & The Dogs, Eater, but also from such Punk-influenced Rock acts like Hanoi Rocks, T-Rex, and New York Dolls! There’s quite a few great guitar duels, but things stay well within the (Hard) Rock ’n’ Roll Punk style that was so typical for the whole ’77 Punk genre! One thing that makes their stuff rise above all of the aforementioned or what’s available in the scene at the moment though, is the somewhat androginous voice of Ader. The first thought that went through mý mind was that perhaps Feargal Sharkey (formerly of The Undertones) had made a bastard son while touring through Germany back in the days! Although I realize that at first listen Ader’s signature vocal sound might throw off quite a few people, I’m sure that once you’ve given them a fair chance, you’ll get hooked on the band’s tunes! Check it out for yourselves (and remember to give the songs another run in case a first listening session throws yoou off a little) by surfing to myspace.com/seconddistrict, where you’ll find 4 songs off Emotional Suicide posted alongside 2 songs off the new album.

Personally, I’m bought, sold, and completely lost on the guys…have been from the first time (albeit in only in the middle of the session) I listened to the album! So, I guess this will have to be one of the first to make that “Best Albums Of 2009”-list of mine!

98/100

Tony.