RAZZIA - Menschen Zu Wasser 1989

Next, another German Punk classic from a band which I appreciate very much and has been with me from the start of my punk life: Razzia from Hamburg. My first encounter with the band was in 1988, together with Bad Religion, a sweaty affair, YEAH! - Founded 1979 by brothers Andreas (guitar) and Peter Siegler (drums) and Rajas Thiele (vocals). Completed with Sören Callsen (bass) and Frank Endlich (guitar). They were not a purely politically motivated punk band like Slime and in their lyrics they were all kinds of grievances often quite dark and cynical formulated and very aggressively implemented by Rajas in the early years. In 1981, the band were with two pieces on the compilation Underground Hits on Aggressive Rock Produktionen. It was followed by an engagement with the Hamburg label Weird System, which also brought out the first album Tag Ohne Schatten. A brilliant D-Punk record. Atypical for punk bands in the mid 80s Razzia used keyboards in their songs and the result is quite superb. Th second album Ausflug Mit Franziska is the perfect example of their musical development & diversity. I bought this record at a concert in the HH/Fabrik in Altona in 1998. On the 3rd album the band is more experimental, electronic beats, spoken vocals ('Stahlherz') and also the synthesizer again targeted use. Together with the morbid typical lyrics and the unique voice of singer Rajas was made a dark, multi-layered album with threatening parts and a dense atmosphere but always offensive. With this album the musical development was promoted again, thus Razzia stood out from the more traditional German punk of the 80's. Released on the bands own label Triton is this one of my favourite Razzia albums. The band is still active and you shouldn't miss them on stage.

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