I witnessed the Berlin-based art punks Lemongrab one or two FMEs ago, and I can’t tell you much about their set. It was outside, late, and I was, like most of the crowd, plastered—from drinking a legion of free media beers. I remember it being very gritty and punk, but hard to really take in. The new EP, Another Kind of Freedom, begins the same way with “Pay to Play,” a punk rock burner about the modern reality of being a broke musician, with vocalist Gaëlle Cordeau screaming “pay to play,” while some choppy and buzzing, in-the-red guitar chords chew up the minutes. It’s hard to make out what Cordeau is actually singing, but you can tell she’s angry.
“Necessary Condition” is more artsy krautrock, and I’ll say it’s interesting in its songwriting—we have a bouncing, distorted guitar riff while Cordeau and guitarist/backing vocalist Léonie Dishaw have some vocal sparring until they each scream “stare into the void” in unison. The outro gets more nebulous with a shifting bass line and then jumps into a punky outro. “Yoko” has a more bass-funk vibe, and lyrically defends Yoko Ono from the feminine perspective. I think there’s more to this song than what falls on the ears, but I just couldn’t get into it. It could have been tiredness or malaise on my part.
“No Receipt” is a clever cowpunk track about being in a relationship during late-stage capitalism; it’s a trap; everything costs money, like everything. There are moments I really enjoy and some I just can’t, specifically the shriek screams during the bridge. And then the EP is over.
Another Kind of Freedom really feels like a band that is experimenting with every idea, launching it at a wall to see what sticks and what crumbles down. Even though they’re four albums in, now on Mothland, it seems Lemongrab is just getting started.
