Mar
27
Tele
March 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment
A while back I got one of Tele’s earlier hits – Es Kommt ein Schiff – off a magazine’s free CD giveaway and described it as a Westlife-type ballad with cheesy horns. I still stand by this although with the Freiburger’s new album, the horns Tele love so much have grown on me a bit more. I still think they overdo it a tad but when they get the mix right it really works – check out the playful big band on Rio De Janeiro.
Wir Brauchen Nichts
(Don’t Need a Thing, 100% native)
Quality production, smooth eighties-type melodies and great lyrics. Standout tracks: ‘Rio de Janeiro’, ‘Mario’, ‘Wir Brauchen Nichts’.
The band’s production is second to none. Really smooth and crisp and deserving of better than my PC’s feeble speakers. I’m tempted to say Tele are a little too schmaltzy for my tastes but the anti-authoritarian stance and title track (a beaut of understated acerbic insolence) are good indicators Tele are their own men. And if swimming against the current floats your boat then check out the whistling on Lila Lass Mich in Ruhe. Did Tele learn a trick from the Fratellis?
Ein Leben Ohne Dich (A Life without You) and So Weit Weg (So Far Away) are slow numbers described on the band’s website as showing their “expertise for ballads of yearning” — just the type of description which would have most Brits running a mile, but the blurb is on firmer ground when it goes on to compare this six-piece to Crowded House; they do have that laid back languid feel but overall lack the cutting edge of the Finn brothers.
Some trivia: the band represented Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany’s ‘Bundesvision ‘ song contest earlier in ’07. They came tenth. Probably good for them, after all look what happened to Guildo Horn.