Wizo

Since 1987 the German trio WIZO has turned out ferociously paced yet sharply crafted political protest punk. The group came together in a modest village near Stuttgart just as the Berlin Wall collapsed, unleashing high-voltage punk anthems that quickly won listeners across Germany and beyond. Guitarist and singer Axel Kurth, bassist Jörn Genserowski, and drummer Ingo rejected the self-importance they associated with early American punk and instead looked to homegrown political acts such as Slime and Razzia. Taking cues from British punk while surveying ample targets for dissent at home, they began shaping protest songs marked by both intelligence and bite.

Although the lyrics carried the primary weight, the band never sacrificed the buoyant drive that endeared punk to young German audiences. That balance let them launch their own imprint, Hulk Räckorz, and issue their debut album Für'n Arsch in 1991. Known for courting media attention, WIZO once staged an unannounced set from the back of their van outside a courthouse where a well-known celebrity was on trial; journalists reacted with fury while fans hailed the stunt as proof that WIZO was Germany’s most daring act. The following year the band pressed a small run of 7-inch “tribute” records that actually lampooned a recently deceased easy-listening idol, prompting Bild-Zeitung to name them the nation’s worst band—an outburst that delivered nationwide exposure and pushed the group into the spotlight.

In 1993 WIZO issued another mock tribute, this time reworking Ace of Base’s hit single “All That She Wants,” and supplied a self-made video to MTV Europe. The clip unexpectedly entered rotation, European stations began airing the track heavily, and it reached the Top Ten in Denmark. After sharing a bill with NOFX, the trio attracted the notice of Fat Mike and signed with his California label, Fat Wreck Chords. Their first release for the imprint, Uuaargh!, arrived in June 1995; three years later the compilation EP Kraut & Rüben introduced previously unavailable German tracks to American listeners. WIZO split in 2005 yet reformed in 2009 and have continued playing and recording since, with Axel Kurth joined at various times by bassists Thorsten Schwämmle or Ralf Dietel and drummers Thomas Guhl or Alex Stinson.