La Bum

Albenrezension

Though a fine specimen of European alt-rock, La Bum remains a largely regional treat — an adaptation of a universal style to a local musical market, in this case, the German-speaking one. The band churns out a set of songs that would have qualified for post-grunge were it not for the total absence of either angst or pomp à la Third Eye Blind — just simplistic rock riffs and equally unsophisticated rhythm patterns. You can hear a punk influence — Germany doesn't sport a healthy punk scene for nothing — but the optimistic, down-to-earth atmosphere of most songs is closer to pop (think "99 Luftballons") than to Die Ärzte or Die Toten Hosen. There are plenty of gang choruses, though, and the vocals are generally the main selling points of the songs — the Germans have a reputation for singing, and Sportfreunde Stiller confirm that it isn't going away in the 21st century. However, the singalong qualities alone cannot make La Bum an interesting album and, in fact, even hamper the songwriting. The idea was obviously to cut some simple tunes that you can go along with on the first listen, and it's probably a riot in a live setting — some of the tracks suggest sport chants more than anything. But this also means that there's no depth at all to the songs: no guitar textures to speak of, no bassline to trace, no interesting riff progressions — only some occasional string arrangements ("[Tu Nur Das] Was Dein Herz Dir Sagt") that don't come as often as they ought to, and the catchy opening track. You'll hear and digest everything the band has to offer on the first listen, and after that, all that remains is an energetic but not overwhelming delivery and those choruses that are, when all is said and done, earworms rather than hooks.