Grenz­kon­trol­le

The latest New German Wave is rippling out from Cologne in both directions of the Rhine and far beyond. Born out of frustration at the state of affairs in Germany, Don L. Gaspár Ali ponders how the downward spiral of our society can be arrested. A shift to the right across all social strata, the climate crisis, the Middle East conflict, housing shortages, wealth inequality - all signs suggest a storm is brewing, and one that’s without question required. With his band Grenzkontrolle, the poet and musician is now hurling a punk cocktail into the midst of society, which is busy cultivating its own extremism under the guise of political temperance. There’s nothing moderate about this band though. With songs like “Revolution” or the homage to the death-defying anti-Nazi Edelweiss Pirates during the Third Reich, “Edelweiss”, Grenzkontrolle lash out at the conditions being relativised and presented as the natural course of events by those in power in the country. It’s punk rock reminiscent of Fliehende Stürme or Grauzone, of the subversive energy of the 80s - and yet it sounds utterly contemporary. It is quite possible that this is a band in its embryonic stages, whose cultural significance over the coming years is hard to predict. So, the name of the game is: get up and get involved.