Can punk still sprout in the city that has become Berlin in 2022? He can: The losers devote themselves entirely to the variety or at least the attitude of the genre that emerged in New York and London in the mid-1970s. The two metropolises show par excellence what becomes of cities when capital alone rules, namely a faceless shell. But whether the path for Spree-Athens is also mapped out?
The Madness in the Moon
That’s a bigger topic – back to the losers for now. The band consists of Lorenz O’Tool, Oska Wald and Jiles from the garage group Chuckamuck, as well as Hannes Berwing and Jonas Häussermann from the punk combo Maske. On Friday (February 18th) their first single “Mann im Mond” celebrated its video premiere in the 8mm bar in Berlin. Music and images are driven by an almost claustrophobic atmosphere: “Maybe the song describes a certain madness. Do you feel persecuted, but don’t know why?” says Lorenz O’Tool.
Leon Zidek was responsible for directing the music video. It shows four figures in anti-toxic suits – and a guy who feels visibly threatened, wearing a helmet and diving goggles on his eyes, seems to be running away from an invisible danger. Above all the bright moon threatens.
From rancid cellars in the capital to the Uckermark
The decision to create music together grew in the Berlin underground – somewhere in the last occupied cellars of the city. They had met at punk concerts and discovered a common denominator. After that we went to the northeast of Brandenburg, as guitarist and singer Lorenz O’Tool explains: “We met in our studio in the Uckermark to record a split single. It was just not addressed in any way and instead we just gambled, drank and did what you do. We ended up staying a week, the tracks freshly written, refreshed, pressed straight to tape with no rehearsals. We really liked each other and repeated that once.”
objection
The self-titled debut record DIE VERLIERER will be released on March 11th on tape and digitally via “Mangel Records”, with the vinyl pressing to follow in the summer. As the press release states, the musical spectrum should range from fast punk riffs with pissed-off vocals to NDW and Krautrock. It goes on to say: “Nothing is embellished; neither the German bourgeoisie gaping at the spectacle, nor the often contradictory reality of their own lives.”
One thing is clear: this capital city needs counterculture more than ever in order to retain at least part of its identity. Can Berlin be saved from New York and London conditions? Well, horses have been seen throwing up in front of the pharmacy. At least, if only because of the band’s ethos, groups like Die Loserer object. Against a city whose rough grimace is drawn softer from year to year – until at some point its face can no longer be seen.