| CD REVIEW Genepool |
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Band : Genepool I’ve no exact idea of when this Koln based German act started their career, as I’ve found very little info on the sextet through my usual info channels. After some more extensive delving, here’s what I can tell you… The band (then including producers Guido Lucas and Thilo Schenk as guitarists, and Smoke Blow singer Jack Letten as vocalist, in the line-up) debuted in 2004 with Everything Goes In Circles (issued through Nois-O-Lution) which, due to its raw sound, was seen as a tribute to the likes of the Damned and The Misfits. A nice detail (and meant as a tribute), is that the album cover artwork was somewhat of a rip-off from Germs’ debut album. Although a certain dark grimness remained, 2007’s follow-up album Sendung/ Signale (again released through Nois-O-Lution) was somewhat of a surprise, seeing the introduction of sequencers and beats and a musical direction gearing towards the Pop-era of the likes of The Cure, The Sisters Of Mercy, and Killing Joke. On certain songs even comparisons such as Joy Division, Fisher Z, Andreas Dorau, and even Kraftwerk were used! 2009 seesthe band return with yet more changes. Firstly in the line-up: Lucas is no longer with the band, but still operates as co-producer (and co-engineer, by the way) alongside Schenk. If I’m correct, Lucas was replaced by one Paco, and Letten was replaced by “Ian”…the line-up completed by bassist Lude and drummers Spyro and Jens (sorry, I have no last names, nor any confirmation as to their status in the band, relating to being a veteran or new member). Although the band is based in Koln, its members live all across the Nordheim – Westfalen area, a fact which sometimes hinders their coming together for rehearsals. The sextet signed their deal with Rookie Records in early September 2009, and delivered the album (including artwork) to the label late October. Working towards the release of their full-length with a plan, the band then issued a radio single including the edited tracks “The Maggots” and “L.U.N.A”. Secondly, the musical direction has changed yet again! You might say that somehow the band’s sound is still in the ‘80s though! With a Punky layer coming from the guitars (which occasionally go for a more Pop-riented Hard Rock direction), there’s an ‘80s Post-Punk feel from the inclusion of keyboards/ synths in most of the songs…the synth frequently taking the upper hand in the overall sound of specific songs (…and I’ve wondered a couple of times what kind of synth makes that specific sound…was it a Farfisa, perhaps?). But every so often, you’ll also hear a trumpet (or is it a trombone?) being played, and in spite of what one might expect, this is nót to include a Ska-flavoured song in the set! In stead, it’s an extra layer in the simple complexity of the band’s music! On top, you get nicely varied lead vocals, frequently augmented in their catchieness through inventive backing vocals. Taken overal, the album might sound weird a first time you listen to its material, but during a second session you’ll find quite a few of the songs have crawled into a comfortable corner of your mind. It’s really somewhat hard to imagine what the band sounds like from just these words, I guess, so you might as well compare the words with the single’s tracks which you can listen to at myspace.com/realgenepool (you’ll also find a couple of songs off the older albums). Meanwhile the band has had a release party for the album on January 29 at Koln’s Blue Shell, performing with a 10-man band (well, with an extra keyboardist and a couple of horn players, that’s the kind of line-up you would get). People living in Germany might be lucky enough to see the band passing through their town on the short tour they’ll undertake during April, but the rest of the world will have to wait a little longer before being able to enjoy this band’s stage antics. Luckily, we have this great new album to keep out interest lingering! Now let’s hope the band’s finally found their musical niche, and will continue in this vein in the future! 93/100 Tony. |