New German bands: Tocotronic, Die Sterne, and Vivid keep the sound of German Music fresh
To listen to German radio today is to hear a medley of the last four decades of American cultural imperialism. Fifties classics are a staple, as is the music of the early '80s. Fortunately, Germany's "indie" pop bands - small groups signed to independent record labels - are making innovative and fresh music, showing that Germany, too, can be a leader in contemporary sound. Indie pop is a genre known for uncanny lyrics and unconventional beats. It's not music for the masses in the traditional sense, at least not yet. The lyrics are clever, and, while they may be simple and poppy or abstract depending on the band, they are rarely superficial. The bands Tocotronic and Die Sterne are the best of the indie newcomers. Both come out of Hamburg, a creative pressure cooker for new music because of the city's surplus of talent and the intense competition between the bands. Tocotronic, or the Tocos, as their fans call the band, specializes in guitar driven music with a hard edge. Bassist Jan Müller and drummer Arne Zank were both in the same punk band, and it shows in their heavy rhythms. Lead singer and guitarist Dirk von Lowtzow brays along with the music, his coarse vocals and heavy guitar riffs building a shimmering wall of noise. Die Sterne's sound is a sophisticated combination of guitar riffs, drum and bass beats, keyboards and computer effects. The melody backs lead singer Frank Spilker's ethereal voice and multifaceted lyrics. Both bands' left-of-center styles are a trademark of the Hamburg scene. "The bands in Hamburg come out of their own microcosm," says Helmut Heuer, manager of the Markthalle, a popular Hamburg rock club. Heuer also notes that the music is very bound to its surroundings; the bands' messages deal with today's society, and their critiques are often scathing. While Die Sterne sings that "we are all automatons" who just keep moving along to stay "out of the shit," Tocotronic makes its message a bit more personal: "Alles was ich will ist nichts mit euch zu tun haben" (All that I Want is to Have Nothing to Do with You) is their view that ignoring a problem might just be the best way to solve it. But on the title track to their latest album, "Es ist egal, aber" (I Don't Care, But), they admit that they would like to be more involved in finding a solution: "I don't care, but that's not the way I want it to be," moans Dirk. The three Tocos are very much lost souls looking for a place to fit in. "I want to be able to rely on you," they sing in "Ich will Teil einer Jugendbewegung sein" (I Want to Be Part of a Youth Movement). The song from the Tocos' first album "Digital ist besser" has become a band anthem. It established the group's anti-authority attitude, a stand that appeals to its mostly young fans. With dry, cynical vocals and renegade harmonica, the Tocos' latest single "Sie wollen uns erzählen" (They Want to Tell Us) underscores that mentality and paints a picture of the world as an us-versus-them kind of place. "Our songs definitely have a message, but we keep what we want to say indefinite enough that anyone can interpret it for themselves," says bassist Jan. For all that, press and critics have associated the Tocos with "slackers," the German version of listless twenty-somethings. "I think that phrase is a bit stupid," says Dirk. "'Slacker' is a very negative term. It describes someone who is apathetic, who doesn't feel anything. With us it's more about emotion: melancholy and sadness." Vivid is an upcoming band that has no reason to be sad. Signed to Virgin records in 1996, the band released its first album "Go!" this fall and hopes to release it in the U.S. and Britain soon. While not strictly an indie band - Virgin is a major label that gives new bands wide creative berth - Vivid embodies the artistic and commercial side of German alternative pop. The lyrics are in English, making Vivid more internationally accessible. Vivid's music is similar to that of U.S. grunge band Pearl Jam, using a standard guitar, bass and drum ensemble, but with added electronic samples to give the music a more modern sound. "The sounds that we use intensify the feeling in our songs," says bassist Holger Schmidt. "We've tried to bring out a positive attitude on this album." Positive describes the current attitude toward German pop, at least inside the industry. "German bands have a bit more self confidence now," says drummer Torsten Kluske. "They just do their own thing." By doing their own thing, bands like Tocotronic, Die Sterne and Vivid keep German music exciting and unpredictable. Indie pop is refreshingly experimental and progressive, and with any luck, it will remain a small scale phenomenon, an island of resistance in a lockstep commercial world.