Across the Border

Since 1993 the ensemble from Karlsruhe, Germany has specialized in tempestuous, politically provocative punk rock laced with folk instrumentation. Their songs praise cannabis use, condemn established political powers, and champion homosexual rights, distinguishing the band from conventional lighthearted acts built around fiddle and squeezebox. Their outlook is best summarized as anarchistic. In the same manner that Black 47 chronicled Irish-American life in the United States across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Across the Border confronts perceived injustices in present-day Germany via direct, smirking tirades carried by boisterous yet engaging performances. Their instrumental work stands out, above all the rhythm section formed by Stefan and Fezzo together with the fiddler identified only as David. Lead vocals and lyric writing remain the clearest shortcomings: Jochen's ("Jake") delivery lacks sufficient force for the material, and the words are frequently undercut by plainness.