Review FORNHORST “Leben ohne Scheiss”

Fornhorst is a punk collective from the greater Hamburg area. The band evolved from the idea of singer/guitarist Chappi, who wanted to start a solo project with a few shows with his acoustic guitar in the local pub.

Since playing music all alone isn’t the most exciting thing, Chappi looked for some companions with a similar passion for music with German lyrics, resulting in Fornhost and their latest release “Leben ohne Scheiss”.

The longplayer is completely self-released and made with a DIY approach. The result is a thrilling punk rock album that bursts with energy and comes with meaningful and socio-critical lyrics with a twinkle in the eye.

There is “Angepisste People”, an ironic song about ‘things that were always better in the past’. And there is the ska-driven “Tommi”, which is lyrically the most haunting song. It’s about a guy who’s different and certainly doesn’t fit into any scheme of conformity. Yet “Tommi” has the right attitude and a good set of values as a compass for standing up to right-wing movements. Non-conformity is also the theme of “Seit laut und unbequem”, while the up-tempo opener “Vielen Dank für deine Angst” deals with hypocrisy and conspiracy, a cancer on society.

Musically, Fornhorst play punk rock with edges, enriched by well-crafted melodies. The latter makes it easy to dive into these twelve punk rock songs and to sing along.

To sum up: this debut album is an energetic and vivid punk rock album that combines meaningful lyrics and great music. “Leben ohne Scheiss”, an album that is highly recommended.