I first heard of Auf Bewährung (No Probation) earlier this year when it was announced as support to Night Birds in Frankfurt, a show I am due to attend. Internet searches resulted in me finding a gritty anti-fascist punk rock band which sounded pretty good, especially its cover of “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg.” I then get hold of the band’s new album Nachtschatten(Nightshade), and discovered that Auf Bewährung had clearly taken a couple of steps forward towards a more mature sound without losing any of its edge. The evolution is one which I definitely approve of, as the songs have better structures and have more longevity than anything else I’d heard from the group. I can’t comment on the lyrics, as my German is non-existent, but it does seem that the group has kept the leftist ideals previously espoused when checking out its social media presence. My inability to understand the lyrics hasn’t detracted from my enjoyment of this record one iota and I’m now excited at the prospect of seeing the band where I’ll be singing along as best as I phonetically can.
–Rich Cocksedge (Twisted Chords, twisted-chords.de, [email protected])