Sie Koennen Schaffen

“DAS IST DIE REKLAMATION!” And that the intensity that Wir Sind Helden (WSH) brings to the music world. German rock band Wir Sind Helden’s debut album is one that thankfully does not fall into the character of bad. In fact, it’s downright awesome. Lead singer Judith Holofernes, while certainly not the best singer (made perfectly clear on her solo album, Kamikazefliege [Kamikaze Flying]), adds another spoonful of sugar the already energetic and forceful music. All the songs on this album are accessible, yet completely original—especially for music aus Deutschland.

Wir Sind Helden, German for “We Are Heroes,” started the trend of German New Wave in 2003 with the lead single Guten Tag. The song, meaning “Hello,” is not exactly then nicest in the world, but it has a great message: be happy with what you’ve got. Translated, the lyrics resemble the following: I saw it in the sales. Trade your boring, old life for this new version. But this product is now broken, and that is the complaint! Then, Ms. Holofernes goes on to chant “I want my life back!” Despite the anger that the character is facing, the song sounds happy to the non-German ear.

I will be honest: Guten Tag was not a song that I listened to them for. The first was Ausser Dir (Beside You), a solemn song that is very similar to the styles of Indie-electronic/rock band Stars. The music sounds very broken, like it got chewed up inside the cd-burner, creating a mood that matches the melancholy lyrics: you do me in* and for you, I shake hands with insanity. This was the first song I ever heard by them, coaxing me to acquire their second album, (the stronger) Von Hier An Blind (Blind From Here On). I, unfortunately, did not receive a copy of Die Reklamation until much later.

Other highlights include Monster, Ruessel An Schwanz (Head to Tail), Aurelie (a song about a poor girl trying to hard to find love), and my personal favorite from this album: Muessen Nur Wollen (We Just Have to Want). Muessen Nur Wollen, a song about being controlled, is amazing. The music is perfect, and the vocals that Judith supplies are dead-on. With clever lines such as, we could ride horses without legs backwards, this song is has more than enough replay value to last me a very long time. And you know what? I think the Helden could indeed ride horses without legs backwards.

Overall, the album is amazing, and there are many other tracks on the album to enjoy, but I don’t want to give away and surprises.

Fun sites to check out: www.wirsindhelden.de and http://earthlingsoft.net/ssp/blog/2005/07/wir_sind_helden_in_english#5889 (a site with translated lyrics.)

Don’t forget to check out their second album as well as their latest single (from their upcoming third album, Soundso, Endlich Ein Grund Zur Panik! (Finally, A Reason to Panic!)