German indie rock that provokes nothing but approval.
The band Madsen certainly consists of very likeable members. It also seems to me that the band wants to do the right thing politically. You stand up for this and that, sometimes negotiate social grievances through text and distance yourself from intolerance and right-wing ideas. That’s good and also compatible in the indie cosmos. Madsen’s tenth album is now being released. The last one entered the charts at number one, maybe that will happen again this time. I wouldn’t be surprised.
Why? Because we’re dealing with something that doesn’t hurt anyone, that’s suitable for radio and probably works great at festivals and in larger halls – because of its mainstream nature. Once Madsen, always Madsen. Like with pants or doctors. But it doesn’t help: it’s zero music. Zero innovation, zero lyrical sophistication, zero rough edges, zero courage, zero risk. With lines like “We fly high, we fall low, sometimes things go well, then bad again” (“Roller Coaster”) you logically provoke nothing but approval from the listeners. And I also have to say: Yes, there is some truth to this observation.
“Hasta la vista” sounds like billo rock from the early 2000s in the USA, “Take care” is a well-produced high school hit with a rustic, groovy quality and that in the track “I don’t give a shit.” I don’t trust the postulated “I don’t give a fuck” any more than I trust Meghan Markle who bakes cookies. “1995” then even lists all of the band’s punk heroic deeds and mini-revolts in their home province. You want to mosh pit, but then in the clean socks that mom has sorted in the drawer. Hopefully, all of this has resulted in at least various homes and presentable guitar collections over the years. This was granted to the band from the heart.
