Republic of the Tramps (Album)

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Republic of the rascals
Landser's studio album

Publication
(s)

1995

Label (s) NS records

Format (s)

CD

Genre (s)

Right rock , hard rock

Title (number)

14th

running time

41:41

occupation
chronology
The Empire Comes Again
(Demo, 1992)
Republic of the rascals Deutsche Wut - Rock gegen Oben
(1998)

Republic of the Strolche is the debut album by the German right-wing rock band Landser . It was released in 1995 on the Danish label NS-Records and has been indexed since September 1996 . In addition, a new vinyl edition published by Stagma on November 9, 2015 was indexed due to the same content .

background

The previous bass player Andreas L. left the band, whereupon a replacement was sought. The choice fell on André M. He was a good friend of Michael Regener , but could not play an instrument at first and acquired the necessary skills with the help of a borrowed bass guitar and the support of the band members. Since he could not read notes, M. made a note of the handles using numerical codes, which he wrote down on pieces of paper.

Under the influence of Regener, who was meanwhile the head and sole lyricist of Landser, the goals of the band changed. Previously it was just the production of music for the neo-Nazi scene, but in the opinion of the court, Regener now also wanted to inspire previously apolitical people, especially young people, for right-wing extremist ideas by stirring up "hatred and emotions" with the lyrics. In this regard, the court attested Regener “historical knowledge”, “inventiveness”, “subtle irony”, “linguistic wit”, “unusual choice of words” and “great talent” for formulating texts. Horst S., the band's drummer, on the other hand, tried to moderate the lyrics, believing that he could not answer for some of the criminally relevant content. Since the band's plan was dangerous with regard to the criminal liability of the lyrics, they decided not to appear in public anymore and to change the rehearsal locations frequently. In order not to arouse suspicion of randomly listening in, some of the texts during the rehearsals were no longer sung in German, but in a kind of makeshift English.

Republic of the Rascals was incorporated in late 1995. Horst S. won over a befriended music producer who had good connections to the right-wing extremist network Blood and Honor . Recording, production and distribution were much more professional than with the demo recording Das Reich comes again . Due to the explosive nature of the texts, however, there was no German recording studio to record the content. The songs were therefore recorded in Helsingborg , Sweden , where such texts were legal and a member of the Blood and Honor network provided a recording studio. The recording studio was responsible for pressing the CDs. The CDs were then sent to Germany by mail or courier. The cover and booklet of the CD, however, were made in Germany. The band sent Jens O., a later witness, handwritten instructions for the design, which he implemented technically and had printed via a middleman near Hildesheim .

O. finally took over the distribution of the sound carriers within Germany, which according to his information comprised around 10,000-13,000 copies. The income generated should be divided between O. and the band members. However, the court was unable to quantify the sum of the sales proceeds with certainty. According to O., he passed around 24,000 DM on to Horst S., when it was assumed that in the end each band member would receive between 2,000 and 3,000 DM from the sales proceeds.

While trying to import 2000 of the pressed CDs from Sweden to Germany, Horst S. was arrested in March 1996 together with two other people after a tip from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution . He was two weeks custody and then left the band. In the course of the investigation, Regener, whom the public prosecutor had identified as the singer and head of the band, was also placed in custody. The proceedings were discontinued, however, because the public prosecutor's office could not prove that he was involved in importing and distributing the CD and was also of the opinion that the inclusion of texts abroad that were criminal in Germany would be exempt from punishment.

content

Musically, most of the songs belong to the hard rock genre. Only the tracks Klan -Song , Ian Stuart and Afrika-Lied are kept quieter. Thematically, the songs are mostly dedicated to typical right-wing extremist topics. This includes the rejection of ethnic groups who are perceived as inferior and those who think differently, such as blacks ( Klan-Song , Afrika-Lied ), Vietnamese ( Xenophobia ) and communists ( No heart for Marxists , 10 little picking pigs ). Among other things, these groups of people are subjected to derogatory statements, the use of force against them is called for, or their deportation is requested. No Heart for Marxists is based on a song by the Australian RAC group Fortress and Xenophobia contains text excerpts from the film Romper Stomper . The band also expresses itself in the song KPS ( Kotzen Pissen Scheißen ) hostile to musicians who had turned against neo-Nazis in song lyrics or public statements . So are the doctors , The Prince and Die Toten Hosen as opportunistic hypocrites referred to the distancing of the band Böhse Onkelz represented by the right-wing as a betrayal, with the band on the song of betrayal The Signum from the album evil people - evil songs alludes, and by force threatened against the singer Udo Lindenberg . In contrast, the singer of the British right-wing rock band Skrewdriver and founder of Blood and Honor Ian Stuart Donaldson, who died in 1993, is worshiped in the ballad Ian Stuart . In the title song Republic of the Strolche as well as in Signal for the uprising , the band expresses their rejection of the Federal Republic of Germany and calls for their fight. Germany is described as a police state and the politicians as “ traitors ”. The play Mord in Ahrensbök takes up the theme of the arson attacks in Mölln and Solingen , which were committed by neo-Nazis, and compares them with a five-fold murder in Ahrensbök , which a Turk had committed. Allegedly, the acts were not condemned and only the victims of the neo-Nazis were mourned. The title alone make you one is based on a song by the band Ton Steine ​​Scherben and calls for cohesion in the right-wing extremist scene. In addition, Schala-lala-li is an ironic song in which, following the example of the US gun laws , “weapons for all” are demanded. Only the piece Koma-Kolonne is a drinking song and contains a few neo-Nazi text passages. In the court ruling on the band's ban, special reference was made to the first song on the album, entitled Landser , in which the band wants to stir up hatred, call for revenge for Rudolf Hess and address the Aryan youth.

Cover design

The album cover is in black and white. It shows police officers in equipment that is used against demonstrations. There are buildings in the background, including the Deutsche Bank skyscraper in Frankfurt and a building with a Mercedes star . The band logo is located at the top left: the letter L with a sword and at the top right are the lettering Landser and Republic of the Strolche in white or black.

Track list

# title length
1 Soldier 2:07
2 No heart for Marxists 2:20
3 Klan song 3:20
4th Murder in Ahrensbök 2:56
5 Ian Stuart 4:37
6th Signal to revolt 3:24
7th 10 little picking pigs 1:29
8th KPS 3:09
9 Xenophobia 3:02
10 Republic of the rascals 3:12
11 Africa song 2:31
12 Alone they can make you 2:32
13 Schala-lala-li 3:54
14th Coma column 3:09

Individual evidence

  1. Republic of the Rascals at discogs.com
  2. a b c d e f g Judgment of the Berlin Court of Appeal of December 22, 2003, Az. (2) 3 StE 2/02 - 5 (1) (2/02). Internet service Dullophob, accessed on May 20, 2013 (PDF; 547 kB). ( Possible alternative on snafu.de. ( Memento from September 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ))
  3. BAnz AT 11/27/2015 B3
  4. Senate Department for Internal Affairs and Sport, Department for Protection of the Constitution [Berlin] (ed.): Info right-wing extremist music . 2nd Edition. Berlin November 2007, p. 16 ( berlin.de ( memento from November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 785 kB ; accessed on May 2, 2013]). Info right-wing extremist music ( Memento of the original dated November 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.berlin.de
  5. ^ Republic of the Rascals on discogs.com