Photo Credit: Christian Ripkens
Four years after TEKKNO turned Electric Callboy into one of the decade’s biggest heavy-music success stories, the six-piece return with TANZNEID – and they’re not messing with a formula that clearly works.
The album opens with a one-two punch: the title track (which translates to “dance envy”) and RATATA, their standout kawaiicore collab with BABYMETAL. Together they re-establish exactly what this band is about, as if anybody could forget – infectious melodies, crushing riffs, and synths that could easily be heard pulsing through a German club. Hypercharged keeps that feel-good energy going with a chorus built for pit singalongs, and Elevator Operator rides on some of the record’s bounciest synth work. Let The Good Times Roll, meanwhile, is a genuine romp: The Offspring join the fold for a track that perfectly blends the voices of Nico Sallach, Kevin Ratajczak and Dexter Holland without anyone getting lost in the mix.
Elsewhere, Heartclub pairs soaring vocals with balls-to-the-wall, filthy riffs and blegh-filled breakdowns. The Way You Are opens as a boyband parody before curdling into the same dissonant madness Electric Callboy do so well – the spiritual successor to TEKKNO‘s Hurrikan, a schlager parody that was just as much of an acquired taste. The Savior sounds like a lost 80s cut, pairing growls with synthpop drums and chiptune flourishes, while Revery‘s spoken intro and child vocals make the brutality of its breakdown hit even harder by contrast. There’s also a cover of Sum 41‘s Still Waiting, a fitting showcase for new drummer Frank Zummo to prove he belongs behind the kit.
Here’s the catch, though: nearly every one of these songs already had its moment. All but two tracks (Heartclub and The Savior) were released as singles in the years leading up to TANZNEID, and that steady drip-feed blunts the impact of hearing them as a complete record. It doesn’t help that the album also comes packed with four remixes which, fun as they are, feel like they belong on a deluxe edition, a tour reissue, or an Electric Bassboy EP of their own – not crowding the tracklist of the main event. None of that is a knock on the songwriting – it’s a rollout problem, not a quality one. We just wish they’d left a few more surprises for release day.
TANZNEID doesn’t reinvent Electric Callboy – but when the formula sounds this good, it doesn’t need to. Call it comfort food with glow sticks: not the discovery it should’ve been, but impossible not to dance to.
8.5/10
Standout Tracks: TANZNEID, RATATA, Hypercharged, Let The Good Times Roll, Elevator Operator
For Fans Of: Linkin Park, Bring Me the Horizon, We Butter the Bread With Butter, Annisokay
Written by: Florin Petrut
