Berlin, Stuttgart, Zurich, Basel – a line of cities where the members of MONOCHROME are scattered, perhaps it is the reason why we haven’t heard anything from them for about five years. Maybe it’s also why it is so challenging to find a way to evaluate what The Monochrome Popgroup does. Everything so far apart, and yet so close together. Five years is almost an eternity in the pop business. But then again MONOCHROME has never been about The Biz. In 1996 the band emerged from their legendary hardcore roots as Dawnbreed, blazed their own new trail under their new badge…and never looked back. After two US tours and several hundred European concerts in clubs, discos, galleries and stables; countless singles and EPs; the albums LASER (Trans Solar Records, 1999), FERRO (Trans Solar Records, 2003), ECLAT (Sticksister Records, 2006), and CACHE (Stickman Records, 2008), MONOCHROME have established themselves across all geographical and musical boundaries. It’s no surprise that after five years of stillness, UNITA (Unter Schafen, Cologne based label) picks up where they left off. Chalk it up to talent, dedication
and just plain bustin’ your ass for music. UNITA goes all the way. It is post-punk, uninhibited pop, the genuine independent spirit, sometimes dreamy, post-rock and hardcore to its hardest core. UNITA is all of this, much more, and doesn’t leave anything to chance. And exactly that is the damn beauty of it all. What the funny bone is to a comedian, attitude is what differentiates good rock musicians. You can’t just buy attitude, not on Amazon, not on eBay. Don’t even try. You either have it for real, or you don’t at all. Just how much attitude MONOCHROME has is obvious from the fact that they DON’T rub your nose in it. Even in their most delicate and poppy moments, the MONOCHROME attitude can still hit you like a bare-knuckled fist in the gut. They definitely
take what they do seriously. Instrumental songs like, Sondergleich or Canzone di un’altra estate speak volumes for themselves. Of Constant Companions, Miami, Velvet Ropes – these days, you won’t find anything that sounds better than UNITA. These songs possess such a threatening beauty, calm finesse and precious warmth and are so stylish; it would be a true shame to only speak about. style. An equal disservice would be to simply brand MONOCHROME as mature or grown up, because UNITA at its best is also genuinely childlike – playful, light on its feet and full of love for music.
1. Clarification 2. Of Constant Companions 3. Brun 4. The Weekender 5. Leerschlag 6. Minutes and Actions 7. Wechselstrom 8. (It is not meant
to be) Our Last Campaign 9. Sondergleich 10. The Sense of a Sentiment 11. Recours 12. Miami 13. Velvet Ropes 14. Closure 15. Canzone di
un’altra estate