Till Lindemann’s album Tongue: Begging Bierplauzen Rock

review

“Tongue”
New album by Till Lindemann: Bierplauzen rock begging for provocation

For Till Lindemann and Rammstein, the current year was primarily characterized by the allegations of abuse. Now the frontman is making a name for himself musically again with his new album.

Basically, you shouldn’t joke about aging. With that in mind, I apologize at the beginning. Because on There are actually only two ways to react to Till Lindemann’s new solo album “Zunge”: with humor or pity. Looking at the image that Lindemann always cultivated as Rammstein’s frontman, the question arises as to what would be worse. “Tongue” is nothing less than the documentation of one’s own physical deterioration, coupled with transparent provocations that, God knows, shouldn’t shock anyone.

Till Lindemann’s album “Tongue”: worn-out horror clown plays irrelevant taboo word bingo

Lindemann probably realized that he himself, or rather his own body, definitely has the potential to cause a stir – precisely because he is now 60 years old. But of course an almost pensioner body is generally not enough to provoke. And that’s why Lindemann apparently plays a taboo word bingo that is as grotesque as it is inconsequential.

A reckoning with the decay of one’s own body in “Altes Fleisch”, explicitly sung sex scenes in “Dance Teacher” that only polarize through the choice of words (“I have the cock back in, in my dance teacher”), a horror clown aesthetic in “Everything for the children” (“Don’t be afraid of me, a child is just an animal”) or a blunt disgust factor in “Schweiss” – the songs seem like a desperate cry for attention: “Please be disgusted!”

The provocations seem plaintive and constructed. For the song “Sport Frei”, which is certainly one of the best on the album, there even had to be a Leni Riefenstahl-style video in which Lindemann himself runs through the Berlin Olympic Stadium as a torch runner and finally sets himself on fire to at least do something like to create an “oh moment.”

Lyrics that don’t shock – music that remains one-dimensional

Inevitably, one is reminded of an aging man still trying to keep up with youth, without realizing that his time is over. “Look how badass I am” – eyes roll, look over at the cool people. Texts about supposedly taboo topics such as bodily fluids or sex are no longer enough to shock fans and the features section.

But Lindemann doesn’t seem to want to believe it. Because the plaintive begging for attention is the only thing that sticks with this album. Musically, “Zunge” also seems more one-dimensional compared to Lindemann’s previous albums. This is probably primarily due to the departure of his previous co-musician Peter Tägtren. The songs alone are almost identical across the board: short intro, verse with synthesizer and drums under Lindemann’s voice, chorus loud and brutal, verse calm again.

It will be enough for some mid-forties Jürgens in band shirts

The Rammstein frontman sometimes barks so grotesquely into the microphone that he sounds like a parody of himself. What comes out is inconsequential Bierplauzen rock in which some Jürgens in their mid-forties in band shirts probably still puff out their cheeks and widen their eyes because Lindemann actually sang “Tail”.

Only the track at the end of the album, hidden after the ballad “Self in Love”, brings a smile and a conciliatory conclusion to the record.