That was a wee bit of a surprise: The Marked Men would grace Hamburg again, 10 years after their triumphant Get!Lost!Fest! #2 set. And they got paired with a perfect counterpart:
Where the Marked Men give the lot catchy power pop, fast and simple rhythm, driving drumbeats and chorus driven song structures Hamburg’s very own Küken are a guarantee for …
… fast, forceful and simple wall of sound proto punk with perfect twin vocals.
I was hoping for a packed show, in reality the turnout for this early Sunday show (doors at 19:00, start short after 20:00) was slow to arrive and best “well filled“. Which, under the current struggles of Clubs to fill shows, was ok i guess.
Küken took some extra time to get on stage and kicked into the set with one of my favorites, that is “RnR Band” for a start:
Bang, there almost ain’t no better start into a tight and fast set.
And that is their custom anyway, not a lot of chitchat but pushing out songs one after the other. Given that all songs are well below the 02:00 mark the focus anyway is on the continuous barrage of chords and the driving drums.
Küken (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 03.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
That paired with the same voice twice dual singing is simply a perfect niche in this vast genre. Call it Punk, call it Garage, call it Proto Punk … or simply stick Rock’n’Roll to it.
Here is the finishing touch, more on that RnR side of things:
It was not a surprise that Küken came across absolutely tight and near perfect, as this show was the topping of a short run from Leipzig via Berlin back to Hamburg.
Oh my, for my ears this was a perfect set!
Get your dose of Küken below and make sure you order all of their records. Even Jeff Burke scored Kücken III after the show at the merch table!
Next The Marked Men and in classic unpretentious style they took next to nothing to set themselves up and kicked off with one of their classic hymns:
Thanks indeed for giving us again the chance to spend “A little time” with you guys and sing-a-long to this beauty of a pop (like in popular) song:
Just give a little bit of time
'Cause you know that you can never live before you die
Get out of the way
You know a little spilled blood will make a nice distraction
Can’t cap your lid, but booze that mind
I don’t care you know it’s not a loss if it’s not our dime
It’s just a little hit
You gotta grow up with the X on
[Bridge]
It’s just a little bit of time outside
With the ones who care on our side
Just a little bit of time outside
Just a world of
You’ll get your life to say
Just a little bit
Just a little of it
(c) 2006 The Marked Men / SESAC
The Internet (damn Internet, never forgets) has the simple truth on this one:
It’s a perfect song: the way everyone comes in a split second before the vocals hit, the way everything drops away for the guitar lead and the bass drum, the way it breaks after the chorus where the guitars start dueling each other with clean chords being picked at note by note.
Alex Barett for Razorcake (2012)
The only item that felt a bit off was somewhat the sound: In front of the stage it sounded less powerful than i would have expected, though overall at the end it felt ok.
My wild guess: The perfect and loud wall of sound by Küken set a precedence that anyway The Marked Men with their style would never reach.
The Marked Men (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 03.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
What the lot got was skillful guitar work, melodies and multi-vocal singing, slower songs and faster ones – a happy mix from the overall Marked Men Œuvre.
Listening to all 4 long players prior to the show for something like a warm-up i was stunned (though i should have known better) how consistent they sound. Some may say “everything sounds the same” but i rather call it a consistent sound across a rather short period (2003 to 2008).
Here is another one, showcasing the solid rhythm section, the twin guitar work and vocal harmonies – a perfect chemistry:
On top i was also happy to see that in front of the stage yet again a large (and largely younger) female contingent was both enjoying it and happily dancing along. It was a great reminder on what type of mu-sick is being played: (Power) Pop Music like in Popular Music.
Somewhat many folks where happy that the early show ended – unsurprisingly – early on a dark November Sunday evening, i continued to hang around, chatting with friends and having a post show beer (or two).
And ended up saying two times “good bye” to my favorite (and overworked) booker – thanks yet again Fab for running this shit against all odds.
And as unpretentious as both bands delivered and enabled a great evening i realized that this show actually qualified for my shortlist of Show Of The Year.
Rightfully!
