19. April 2025
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Pawn Painters – pawn painters 1

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Pawn Painters - Pawn Painters 1

Pawn Painters - Pawn Painters 1
4.2

Rating

 4.2/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very characteristic sound
  • Simple, but very energetic indie rock

The name is already suggesting: this one is the debut album of a band named Pawn Painters. The German act is doing indie music, influenced by multiple genres. I ran into their release on a promotion platform and selected it for a share. Pawn Painters 1 has been released on 8th March 2024.

 

Pawn Painters – About The Artists

The Pawn Painters have been founded in 2016 in Schrobenhausen, North of Munich. However, the faith of the band did not look too lucky and there was almost a break-up. Luckily, they found a sound they could agree on. After they lost one band member, the Pawn Painters are a trio, consisting of Simon Mennes (vocals, string synth), Jakob Schmidt (bass) and drummer Fabian Wiltschko.

 

Pawn Painters – Pawn Painters 1 – Track by Track

The nine song album lasts 44 minutes.

1. Kosmonautentraum

The Pawn Painters are a truly remarkable band. If you expect any German lyrics in here, based on the title, you are wrong. Simon Mennes presents the story of the Kosmonautentraum (“Cosmonaut Dream”) in finest English. And the guitars and the bass present finest rock tunes. Nice alternative rock sound with a lot of speed. The latter is not too surprising: the band explicitly states in the press kit that the average tempo of the album is 179.1 bpm. I haven’t checked that fact, though.

2. Dur Moll

The second song comes with the same speed, but a nicely marching groove produced from the bass side. The ingredients of the songs by Pawn Painters are rather simple and straight-forward. However, they create a nice rock firework. The hammering drums add to the feeling that you simply have to move to the sound of songs like this. 

3. Der Detektiv

The third song presents “The Detective”. Indeed, the first moments of the song create a thrilling, suspenseful atmosphere. There is a touch of surf rock in this song, which feels to slightly decrease the average bpm rate stated by the band. Again, you have to mention Jakob Schmidt, who creates a great groove on the bass side.

4. Durch die Flut

The fourth track is taking us “Through the Flood”. The song feels a bit harder to me. On the other hand, there is quite a high vocal presence – which still means that the band is focusing on their very virtuous and variable instrumental work.

5. Simon achte auf den Sieben Achtel

You just cannot deny that the song titles on this album have a nice touch of entertainment. The name of this track, for example, translates to “Simon, take care about the seven-eighths”. I’d love to know what the singer and guitarist of the band did wrong in the past. His performance on both sides, vocals and instrument, are very fine, definitely.

6. Synthesizer Melodie

Synthesizer Melodie opens a set of two tracks, which have already been released. The five minute song indeed comes with some electronic sounds, even though drumming and bass are in focus of it. The guitar theme is cool, the groove is nice – no reason not to like this one.

7. Krautrock

Krautrock means krautrock – and, indeed, this one is bit rougher than the songs before. The guitar is strumming in here and dominate the . To me, the song feels a bit too length, finally.

8. Parcels Bash (Take My Time)

The seventh track feels to seamlessly move into this eighth one, Parcels Bash (Take My Time). The longest song of the album initially presents its main theme, before the vocals are in focus of the track. The song is epic, but also comes with a nice dramatic plot, moving through different themes and kinds of atmosphere. I definitely enjoy it.

9. Fünf Viertel

The closing track presents a modern, energetic indie-rocker. The Pawn Painters are back at their best: simple, straight guitar rock songs with a nice instrumental focus. Nonetheless, Simon Mennes adds a nice flavor to this song, which again comes with a very present groove.

 

Pawn Painters – Pawn Painters 1 – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

Pawn Painters – Pawn Painters 1 – Track by Track

Pawn Painters 1 is definitely a fun listen. The band creates a very won, characteristic sound. I like that the don’t want to go for a too wide sound, but rather concentrate on the basics and do these well. This works out for almost the entire album. Very nice debut.

Favorite song: Kosmonautentraum

 

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