Much of my buying when I’m overseas is kinda sorta done on vibes. Yes, I do research in advance and may have some specific local artists on a list, but I’ll come home with a handful of records that just, well, looked interesting. And that kids is how I found myself lugging home a copy of Rolltreppe’s Es Geht Bergab from our recent trip to Vienna.
I couldn’t find much about Rolltreppe online. They are from Vienna, that much is true. And per Google translate, their name means “Escalator”, and the album is It’s Going Downhill, which sort of fits both the band name and the general direction of the world today. Es Geht Bergab is their second release, a follow-up to their nine-song 2020 Demo.
And it’s fantastic.
I will always be a sucker to a female-fronted punk/post-punk band, so Rolltreppe get me right from the get-go, the brief narrated intro to “Krenke Welt” that then breaks loose, pulsing and throbbing, snappy drums with heavy bass and trippy guitar and vocals dripping with reverb. They rhythm section changes pace, making you feel arrhythmic, the guitar hitting you like jolts from the defibrillator, the vocals like your life flashing before your ears. The other track on the A side is “She Lived”, an arty blend of deathrock and grunge, if you can believe it, with a bit of the avantgarde thrown in for good measure. The B side opens with the urgency of “Schüsse”, followed by the alternating punk and post-punk passages of “Mietenlied”, and closing out with the almost metal “Domestic Comfort”.
You can give Es Geht Bergab a listen on the Rolltreppe Bandcamp page HERE. There are a couple of different versions of the vinyl, which was put out in fairly limited numbers. Your best bet in the US is to get it through Iron Lung Records HERE, since the shipping from Europe these days is insane.