Beatsteaks' Smacksmash 'Smacksmash' album

"On Living Targets we have taken the next step as a band," opines bassist Torsten Scholz.

"If you compare the first album with Launched, you would be able to see the progression we have made since our early days. It wasn't us consciously planning to move in a certain direction, it's just about trying to write the best songs possible."

A powerful burst of musical energy like "Let Me In" affirms this philosophy as the BEATSTEAKS - also comprised of vocalist Arnim Teutoburg-Weiss, guitarists Peter Baumann and Bernd Kurtzke and drummer Thomas Gotz - expertly balance melodic allure with a charged punk rock attack. Produced by former Faith No More bassist Billy Gould and Uwe Sabirowsky (Thumb, Launched), the resulting Living Targets album is not only a well-crafted record, but an epic sounding one as well.

"We recorded the album with Uwe in part, as he produced Launched and is an old friend of ours, but we felt that there was something missing," explains Scholz. "We asked Billy and he agreed. We found Billy to be more of a musician than a producer, which helped us a lot."

Turning burning ambition into punk rock reality is a longstanding modus operandi for THE BEATSTEAKS, who came together in 1995 while they were still in high school. A subsequent demo, recorded on a 4-track and appropriately titled Beatsteaks - die Erste (translation Beatsteaks - the First), went on to sell over 1000 copies in its first three months. The following year, the lads won a citywide Battle of the Bands that yielded a support slot for the Sex Pistols on the Berlin stop of their reunion tour. Quite a feat for a bunch of upstarts!

By early 1997, THE BEATSTEAKS had completed a proper album for the German-based XNO. Dubbed 48/49 in memory of the address numbers to the practice room where they evolved, the Berlin bunch hit the road with the likes of Dog Eat Dog, Lagwagon and Faith No More. The latter support slot introduced THE BEATSTEAKS to Gould, planting the seeds of a friendship that resulted in the ex-FNM bassist's Living Targets production credit.

Devoted to touring, THE BEATSTEAKS ended up being voted the best and most interesting act in Berlin later that year by over 300 journalists and promoters, but the punk rock road dogs lost their original drummer in the process. Without skipping a beat, they recruited Gotz and two years of continuous touring ensued - with the likes of 59 Times The Pain and Thumb. By the `Steaks' 100th show the band had played to 5000-plus attendees at Berlin's Fete de la Musique, an achievement that was soon surpassed by the group when they rocked an incredible 7000 people at their homeland's Bizarre Festival.

In late 1999, the band descended upon a Berlin studio to carve out the material that would land them a deal with Epitaph through the label's European arm. Launched was issued in early 2000 and THE BEATSTEAKS again undertook a long and hectic tour schedule. This time it proved too much for original bassist, Alexander Rosswaag, and the group sacrificed another member.

New bassist Scholz stepped in effortlessly for the European leg of the Warped Tour - which saw THE BEATSTEAKS sharing bills with Die Toten Hosen and Pennywise - and the Deconstruction Tour with label mates NOFX, gelling remarkably his new bandmates. With their line-up secure, THE BEATSTEAKS set about concocting the bewitching but forceful punk found on Living Targets.

Undeniably great songs abound on this new disc. Be it the pummeling contagiousness of "God Knows" or the Iggy-like dirge "Disconnected," THE BEATSTEAKS have now proven themselves as punk rock wrecking ball.

Just follow along with Arnim's directive on the mid-tempo chant-along "Soothe Me," as he bellows "Yeah, yeah" convincingly. It may be a simple lure, but you will be powerless to resist it.

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Beatsteaks' Smacksmash - Smacksmash