WIZO: История немецкого панк-рока

the band

German punk rock band

WIZO is a German punk rock band from Sindelfingen, that formed in 1985. WIZO's music is characterized by a combination of humorous and political lyrics with a fast, melodic punk rock sound. They are considered to be part of the German movement known as Fun Punk (also punk pathetique or 'pret punk'). Their lyrics are written in German, and Axel Kurth has spoken about how German lyrics are important so that the music and lyrics go together. They have named three bands as important influences: Normahl, Hass, and The Exploited. The band espouses left wing politics and describes themselves as "against Nazis, racists, sexists, and other assholes!" They have also said that the most important themes for them are equality for women, queer people, and other marginalized groups. Axel Kurth has stated "We are all Antifa. Everyone, who does not like it when people are treated differently on the basis of some obscure characteristics, is in my opinion an anti fascist."

After the band dissolved in 2005, Axel Kurth released several solo songs under the pseudonym XLQ, including a song for the Soccer team VfB Stuttgart at the German Soccer Championships. This song used the melody of the WIZO song Kadett B. He also released covers of "Als ich fortging", written by de and Pour Un Flirt by Michel Delpech. At the end of 2008, XLQ played guitar for a German boy band, was involved in writing music for the film lt=Die Welle, and other projects. In November 2009, WIZO announced a new album and a reunion tour for 2010 on their official Homepage. In the new line up, bassist Jörn Genserowski was replaced by Thorsten Schwämmle. In May 2010, the band performed at the punk festival de with this new line up. On 13 December 2013 bass player Thorsten "Karachoo" Schwämmle announced on his Facebook page that he had left the band. WIZO released the album Punk gibt's nicht umsonst (Teil III) ("Punk Isn't Free (Part III)") on 13 June 2014, and announced a fall tout to support the album. Ralf Dietel replaced Schwämmle on bass; although Dietel is credited as band member in the album booklet, the bass parts were written by Axel Kurth or Thorsten Schwämmle. One song on the album, Unpoliddisch, which Axel sings in a Saxon dialect, had already been released in 2012 under the pseudonym Total Verboilt. In December 2015 Guhl left the band for family reasons, and was replaced by Alex Stinson, the drummer from the band "Start A Fire". On 21 June 2016 the single Verwesung was released. On 25 June 2016 during the Amnesia Rockfest in Québec, the band released the new single Adagio. On 12 August 2016 WIZO released the new album Der. In 2019 the band launched their Die Schönheit des Verfalls tour of Europe. On 5 May 2023 they released the single "Grauer Brei", their first release in the last 5 years, followed by the EP "Prokrastination" on 25 May. On 5 December, they released the studio album Nichts Wird Wieder Gut, their first album after seven years.

For most of their history, the band has performed as a power trio.