Powerful party tunes which are made to be great on stage: five years after their first release, the Bavarian band Heischneida are back in the record stores. The name of their second album is simply Heischneida II, release date has been 22nd July 2022.
Heischneida – About The Artists
Heischneida are a band from Southeast Bavaria. Even though they have a rather traditional instrumental setup, they do rock with funk and ska elements and are especially popular as a live band. Wenz Karger is the singer of Heischneida, who are active since 2015. The other members are Tobias Gerschka (drummer), Chris Maier (accordion, Irish Bouzouki, accordion, guitar), Simon Pfad (trumpet) and Vali Thannbichler (guitar, bass, vocals). In 2017, they released their self-titled debut album.
Heischneida – Heischneida II – Track by Track
The fifteen track album lasts 52 minutes.
Like in all German dialect reviews, I give lyrics in standard Germany and not in Bavarian / the original language.
1. HSD^2
This three minute song is the opener, a first party track and also a nice introduction to the band. “Today, the Heischneida are there” is the rough translation of the key line of the chorus. Indeed, this one is a bummer.
2. Draisine
Don’t you as well feel there have been too few songs in music history about draisines? At least, this seems to be the Heischneida spirit and they changed it by that release. Like at the opener, the verses have a lot of groove with a strong presence of the bass, while the chorus is a great sing-a-lot brass rocker. Traditional, but very rocking. I love it!
3. Schau i nauf
“I could be really jealous if I looked up to the sky” – these are the first lines of the song. However the first verse closes with ohne Brotzeit, ohne Bier, das geht bei mir gar nie – “Without Brotzeit (German bread snack), without beer, this is never working out for me”. The song turns into a beautiful praise of the Bavarian praise, which is having some really nice brass solos.
4. Sandla
The stomping rhythm of Sandla feels to lead the song into a party-pop song, but with the chorus latest, Heischneida are back en route to rock. Good one.
5. Vegifanga
Vegifanga comes with a nice rock theme on the electric guitar. Unfortunately, the good-to-remember main theme is the key catch in this song.
6. SUV
Indeed, you just cannot say that Heischneida don’t touch a wide range of topic. A great song criticizing the culture of SUV cars. There is definitely a touch of irony in this song, but I just love the songwriting here. The sound of SUV is close to country rock, by the way.
7. Außer Mi
What a cool rocker. Außer Mi (“Apart from me”) has some nice indie qualities. The straight rock sound (even though the band does work with brass) surprised me after listening to the songs before. What a great sing-a-long track for Southern German shows.
8. Vakaffts mei Gwand
The verses of this song has a rather strong ska flavor. However, the chorus is rather a stadium rocker with a good melody and a lot of sing-a-long potential. Just what this band needs to do their great live shows.
9. Weiß-Blau
White and blue – this song feels to be a love letter to Bavaria (which has the state colors blue and white). It wouldn’t be a Heischneida songs, when the focus wasn’t on partying. Finally, this summer-alike rocker is one of the best songs of the album which illustrates how their setup transfers into great party rock songs.
Heute sind wir einfach nur weiß-blau
Weiss wie meine Jeans
und blau wie Sau
(“Today, we are simply white and blue
White like my jeans
And blue like a pig (literal translation, meaning: completely drunk)”
10. Mia wean uns wieda seng
Another track which has a lot of potential to be a blast when the band is on stage. Very powerful rocker which is perfectly written to interact between the fans and the band. Hard guitar riffs and trumpet sounds simply work perfectly, supported by the stomping drum and bass sounds. The song translates to “When we meet again” – I am sure they will meet a lot of people again who once listened to that one
11. Äde
Lasting 5:22 minutes, the eleventh track is the longest one on the album. Especially the raspy voice of Wenz Karger in the chorus gives this epic ballad a hard rock touch. A very different sound, but really cool listne.
12. Es duad no oiwei wäh
The twelfth song states “It still hurts”. After the epic and slow storytelling of Äde, this one is a rather straight, less than three minute mainstream pop-rocker. Good, melodic listen.
13. Schrauf
Schrauf opens with hammering guitar riffs. Hard rock made in Bavaria, made with trumpets and a traditional touch. Definitely touches my Bavarian roots and makes me smile.
14. Glosscheam und Bluad
I am headbanging to the verses and growling the chorus while listening to this one. Songs like Glosscheam und Bluad (“Glass shards and blood”) just spread so much spirit. I am in party mode.
15. Vanlife
After these hard rockers, the closer could also be perfectly used to close a Heischneida concert. A nice, swaying song, which even comes with a nice shanty touch. Cheers and enjoy!
Heischneida – Heischneida II – Spotify
Here is the album on Spotify:
Heischneida – Heischneida II – My View
Let’s make it short: I simply loved this 52 minute Bavarian rock party. These guys just give you a groove to dance and sing-a-long with them. I am sure that the on stage experience with them is even better than the album. The album makes it to the Top Pick! range as well, though.
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