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All Music Guide:
Die Goldenen Zitronen are a punk rock band from Hamburg, Germany, that proved highly influential in the 1980s and grew increasingly experimental in the subsequent decades. The group's music is anti-establishment in nature, especially in the beginning, with an attitude that is angry as well as sarcastic. Protest and mockery, in particular, are often staples of Die Goldenen Zitronen, who are sometimes cited as predecessors to the so-called Hamburg school -- a notion openly rejected by the band, of course, on the album Dead School Hamburg (Give Me a Vollzeitarbeit) (1998). The founding members of Die Goldenen Zitronen are Schorsch Kamerun, Aldo Moro, Ted Gaier, and Ale Sexfeind; in time, Moro and Sexfeind departed and were replaced by Julius Block (i.e., Thomas Wenzel of Die Stern), Mense Reents, and Enno Paluka. Formed in 1984, the band garnered attention with early singles such as "Am Tag als Thomas Anders Starb" and, especially, "Für Immer Punk." On account of these early singles, comparisons were drawn at the time between Die Goldenen Zitronen and concurrent German punk bands such as Die Toten Hosen and Die Ärzte.
Porsche, Genscher, Hallo HSV (1987) marked the debut full-length album by Die Goldenen Zitronen; the album was later reissued as a 30-track CD loaded with bonus material, including the Das Ist Rock mini-LP. Successive full-length releases include Kampfstern Mallorca Dockt An (1988), Fuck You (1990), Punkrock (1991), Das Bisschen Totschlag (1994), Economy Class (1996), Dead School Hamburg (Give Me a Vollzeitarbeit) (1998), and Schafott zum Fahrstuhl (2001). A double-CD compilation, Aussage Gegen Aussage (1984-2002), was released in 2002 and capped off a run over the course of which Die Goldenen Zitronen had become one of Germany's most popular rock bands. Moreover, they'd become much more than just a punk band over the course of their career to date, growing increasingly experimental and daring with each release, musically as well as lyrically. Besides Aussage Gegen Aussage, there was the release of Fuck You Punkrock (2004), a double-CD collection of the two previously released albums. But there weren't any new Goldenen Zitronen recordings for several years, not until the greatly anticipated and well-received comeback album Lenin (2006). In addition to Die Goldenen Zitronen, bandmembers Kamerun and Gaier occupied themselves with side projects on occasion, including Schorsch Kamerun, Schwabinggrad Ballett, and Motion.
Wikipedia:
Die Goldenen Zitronen (English: The Golden Lemons) are a punk rock band from Hamburg, Germany that are known for their entertaining and politically relevant style. Their original name was Die Deutschen Nazikartoffeln (The German Nazi-potatoes). When the band formed in 1984 at the beginning of the “Fun-Punk”-movement, punk was their main style. They are considered a forerunner to the "Hamburger Schule." Over the years the band added more experimental musical forms, with which different styles were combined. Their lyrics are political and take a critical view of society from a left to left-radical perspective.
History
Founded in the 1980s, they have in recent years branched out from punk and created a more experimental style that combines several different forms of music. The band is also especially known for its chaotic live performances.
The founding members were Schorsch Kamerun (vocals), Ale Sexfeind (drums), Ted Gaier (bass, guitar), and Aldo Moro (guitar, bass). Initially they combined hard rock with 1970s-era punk and lyrics that were both angry, yet comedic and pop-like. The band rejected the traditional music industry, seeing themselves as a symbol of artistic independence not wanting to "serve the structures of rock" (Ted Gaier.) Of the founding members, only Schorsch Kamerun and Ted Gaier remain. The new members are Thomas Wenzel (Die Sterne) under the pseudonym Julius Block, keyboarder and drummer Mense Reents (Egoexpress, Stella), and Enno Paluca.
In 1986 Die Goldenen Zitronen courted initial attention with their single "Am Tag als Thomas Anders starb" ("on the day Thomas Anders died"). Their subsequent release, "Für Immer Punk," was a cult hit in the German punk scene, inspiring comparisons with bands such as Abwärts, Die Toten Hosen and Die Ärzte.
The band developed their style further with 1990s "Fuck You," in which they mock popular rock groups and protest against the tedium of daily life.
1994's "Das Bisschen Totschlag" saw a major musical transition, in which Zitronen mixed their usual power-rock style with elements of garage-trash, electro-beat, hip-hop and noise-pop. This trend of experimentation continued with 1996's "Economy Class," which was influenced by improvisational jazz.
With 1998's "Dead School Hamburg" (a jab at the Hamburger Schule trend of music), the band further altered their style, pursuing a greater emphasis on electronic instrumentation. Their most recent album, 2001's "Schafott zum Fahrstuhl", takes a more avant-garde direction.
Die Goldenen Zitronen have had a diverse number of collaborators, ranging from the poet Franz Josef Degenhardt to new acts such as Chicks on Speed or Peaches.
