Dim Prospects – Abscheu und Neugier LP (Noise Appeal Records)
Jugular and hearty punk rock always comes with a certain weight of expectation. It’s a lineage stretching all the way back to the eighties, from melodic hardcore giants such as Hüsker Dü to the raw desperation of Leatherface. The bands like that simply understood that rage isn’t just about speed but about melody twisted into an uncomfortable knot. Dim Prospects’ latest effort, Abscheu und Neugier, carries thirteen tracks that exemplify how melodic but crushing punk rock sound should resonate in 2025. This isn’t another polished, radio-friendly pop-punk, but a sound of cold concrete, cheap beer, and a profound, shared sense of political exhaustion. Dim Prospects are articulating a current state of being. The album title itself is the core thesis: Abscheu, the revulsion at the daily stupidity, the creeping conservatism, and the open-faced bigotry that tries to masquerade as ‘normality,’ and Neugier, a detached curiosity about how deep the collective idiocy can actually go. This is a hard-hitting, heart-pounding punk record with a distinct weakness for beautiful melodies. On one hand, you have tracks that charge out of the gate, short-fuse bursts of furious drumming and barbed-wire guitar riffs that recall the rawness, aggression, and haste of old-school Austrian and German hardcore punk and punk rock bands. Those tracks arrive like a scream you keep bottled up when scrolling through the news feed. They are fast, furious, and pointed, delivering their political comment like a well-aimed punch.
But then, the muscle gives way to the soul. This is where the band’s true influences shine through, particularly the echo of Leatherface’s Frankie Stubbs in the sheer, weary melodicism that controls the noise. When Dim Prospects throttle back slightly, even just for a few bars, that melancholic undertone the band is known for emerges gradually. The bass lines gain a certain gravitas, acting as the bedrock for the lead guitar to thread genuinely affecting, slightly off-kilter melodies. Think of the perfect, gritty contrast achieved by Sugar, Hot Water Music, or Hüsker Dü. These influences aren’t just name-checks, serving as the blueprint for integrating world-weary sorrow into blinding speed. The key takeaway here is the sense of unresolved tension. This is the constant companion of rage, a sound of realizing that the things you have to scream about today are the same things you were screaming about twenty years ago, and that the fight is far from over. This provides the density and longevity that many contemporary melodic punk records lack. Instead of simply being an adrenaline shot, Abscheu und Neugier forces listeners to sit with the exhaustion that comes after the fight. It’s often said that good punk should feel political without being preachy. Dim Prospects understand this better than most. They comment on the daily madness of this world, but crucially, without a wagging finger. This is the element of self-irony the band carries like a sharp but necessary accessory. The political is personal, but it’s also absurd. When you observe the resurgence of conservative ‘normality,’ the very same tired, small-minded idiocy that punk has always railed against, it demands a response that goes beyond earnest moralizing.
Abscheu und Neugier finds its power in this dual attack. There is the outright vengeance and rage, the necessary volume and fury to scream in the face of the majority and what they accept as truth. But simultaneously, there is that detached curiosity that exposes the stupidity of our times with a wink. That wink is the saving grace. It’s the acknowledgment that the situation is terrible, but the realization that they (the band and the listeners) are outside of that idiotic ‘normality.’ It’s a shared chuckle in the face of the impending doom, a refusal to grant the purveyors of hate and conservatism the dignity of a straight-faced response. This mature handling of the theme is what separates veteran punk writers from the newcomers. They’re not simply listing societal issues, they are analyzing the feeling of living under them. The disgust is more than notable, translating into the raw vocal delivery, shouted, slightly strained, but articulated with such precision and finesse, while the curiosity surfaces in the more reflective, often mid-tempo tracks that allow the story to breathe feely before the next onslaught. These tracks act like chapters in a collective journal of contemporary frustration. From scratch to finish, the album maps the entire voyage from initial shock to weary acceptance, yet still maintaining a defiant spirit. Every song title carries an observation of human failure delivered with maximum melodic impact. Abscheu und Neugier is an album for those who feel the world tilting toward the absurd, who find themselves caught between screaming in rage and shaking their heads in resigned amusement. Abscheu und Neugier is a soundtrack for defiance, a blueprint for turning revulsion into strength. They’re unlikely to run out of material, as the band astutely notes, and that’s exactly why we need them. Dive in. You’ll find the music is as smart as it is fast, and the melodies are just enough to keep you from totally despairing about the state of things. It’s what good punk has always been, and Dim Prospects are carrying that torch with muscle and heart. Head to Noise Appeal Records for more information about ordering.
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