Line #43 Music/Tocotronic


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/toco_2198.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Left to right: [=Rick McPhail=], Arne Zank, Dirk von Lowtzow, Jan Müller]]
3
4	Tocotronic are a German [[Main/AlternativeIndie indie rock]] band from Germany and were part of the 90s Hamburg indie scene ("Hamburger Schule"). They are one of the most successful bands of that scene and are frequently named alongside with Music/{{Blumfeld}} and Music/DieSterne.
5
6	There were somewhat of an [[CultClassic underground sensation]] in their early years and mesmerized the Hamburg audience with [[SoBadItsGood substandard instrument skills]] yet memorable lyrics, catchy songwriting and [[CrazyIsCool stage charisma]]. Since their foundation in 1993, they progressed from a Music/DinosaurJr-inspired band towards more professional music recording.
7
8	'''Members:'''
9	* [[TheLeader Dirk von Lowtzow]] (vocals, guitar)
10	* [[TheLancer Arne Zank]] (drums, guitar, vocals, keyboards)
11	* Jan Müller (bass, vocals)
12	* [[SixthRanger Rick McPhail]] (keyboards, guitar, 2004-present)
13
14	'''Discography:'''
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16	* ''Digital ist besser'' (1995)
17	* ''Nach der verlorenen Zeit'' (1995)
18	* ''Wir kommen um uns zu beschweren'' (1996)
19	* ''Es ist egal, aber'' (1997)
20	* ''K.O.O.K.'' (1999)
21	* ''Tocotronic'' (2002) - nicknamed ''Das weiße Album'' (The white album)
22	* ''Pure Vernunft darf niemals siegen'' (2005)
23	* ''Kapitulation'' (2007)
24	* ''Schall & Wahn'' (2010)
25	* ''Wie wir leben wollen'' (2013)
26	* ''Tocotronic'' (2015) - nicknamed ''Das rote Album'' (The red album)
27	* ''Die Unendlichkeit'' (2018)
28	* ''Nie Wieder Krieg'' (2022)
29
30	!Tocotronic provides examples of:
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32	* CloudCuckooLander: Both Dirk and Arne posed as such.
33	** Their ridiculous lyrics turn their early albums into a {{Cloudcuckooland}}.
34	* ContinuityNod: Dirk's hate on guitar traders displayed in ''Hamburg Rockt'' is revisited in ''Ich Werde Mich Nie Verändern''.
35	* CoverVersion: ''Racist Friend'', originally by {{Music/Turbonegro}}.
36	* DarkerAndEdgier: Notably more serious in tone since their self-titled album from 2002.
37	* DenserAndWackier: Before them, only serious agitprop leftists and dead-serious fatalist philosophers like ''Blumfeld'' and ''Die Goldenen Zitronen'' hit the Hamburg scene.
38	** Even on the albums this happened. Arne Zank's few songs are ''even wackier'' than Dirk's.
39	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their first concert had Dirk on drums while Arne played the guitar.
40	* EpicRocking: The three climactic jams on ''Wir kommen um uns zu beschweren''.
41	* {{Expy}}: The early sound was closely modeled after Music/DinosaurJr
42	** Dirk's hairstyle is lifted from [[Music/{{Pavement}} Stephen Malkmus]].
43	* GenreShift: From sloppy indie rock with quirky lyrics to serious, melodramatic indie rock with abstract lyrics.
44	* IHateSong: Especially on their early albums. Examples include: ''Freiburg'', ''Ich verabscheue euch wegen euer Kleinkunst zutiefst'' and ''Gehen die Leute''
45	* MindScrew: Dirk has his moments, but Arne Zank wins this category with songs like ''An Einem Dienstag im April'' that are about waking up, realizing that everything will go wrong just to realize at the end of a day that [[GainaxEnding even that didn't work out]].
46	* MinimalisticCoverArt: ''Tocotronic'' is an {{Main/Expy}} of the Beatles' White Album. ''Wie wir leben wollen" is minimalistic as well.
47	* MundaneMadeAwesome: The whole point of songs like ''Ich Wünschte Ich Würde Mich Für Tennis Interessieren''.
48	** Put up to eleven in that song, obviously meant as a parody of TearJerker songs.
49	* NoEnding: ''Jungs, Hier Kommt der Masterplan'' sounds like the tape broke, possibly a reference to the ''Just Like Heaven'' cover by Music/DinosaurJr
50	* PerishingAltRockVoice: Not so in recent years, but Dirk was the flagship of this style in Germany.
51	* SeriousBusiness: This band loves playing with this trope.
52	** Played straight in ''Ich verabscheue euch wegen eurer Kleinkunst zutiefst'', which is a mean verbal attack on cabaretists.
53	** Spoofed in ''Ich Wünschte Ich Würde Mich Für Tennis Interessieren'', in which Dirk sings about how we would love to care for ''tennis'', while almost breaking his voice in a ridiculously emotional performance.
54	** Exaggerated in ''Freiburg'': Dirk aligns random things about the city (among them: bicycle riders and ''backgammon players'') and how he hates them.
55	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Jan sings ''Es ist einfach Rockmusik'', Arne sings some songs on the first four albums.
56	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: "Ich verabscheue euch wegen eurer Kleinkunst zutiefst'' rants about cabaret.
57	* RockTrio: Up until 2004 when Rick officially became their fourth member.
58	* RuleOfCool: The whole reason why they became famous is the fact they they simply didn't care that they couldn't sing or play.
59	* ShoutOut: Frequently. To Music/TeamDresch in ''Die Sache mit der Team Dresch Platte,'' to Creator/MichaelEnde in ''Michael Ende, du hast mein Leben zerstört'' and to Music/{{The Fall\|Band}} in ''Ich habe geträumt, ich wäre Pizza essen mit Mark E. Smith.'' And "Bumms und Bi" (on "Bitte oszillieren Sie") is no reference to sex, as one might think, but to German poet Hubert Fichte.
60	* [[SeinfeldianConversation Seinfeldian Lyrics]]: Dirk rants about basically nothing in a quite lot of early songs.
61	* SingerNameDrop: ''Wir sind hier nicht in Seattle, Dirk'', ''Date mit Dirk'' and ''This Boy is Tocotronic''
62	* TheSlacker: Dirk von Lowtzow's early stage persona. [[DarkerAndEdgier Later evolved]] into TheDandy.
63	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Their later work is hard to place, due to the abstract nature of the lyrics, but their early work slides up an down, depending on the song.
64	** ''Die Idee ist gut, Doch die Welt noch nicht bereit'' is a ridiculous deconstruction of idealism. The song is about how the protagonist sets out to the city to comfort random strangers but is turned down every time.
65	* TextlessAlbumCover: ''Tocotronic'' (2015) (''The Red Album'')
66	* TheSnarkKnight: Dirk von Lowtzow snarks his way through every Tocotronic album.
67	* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: Sometimes even four!
68	* TranslatedCoverVersion: ''Schlittenflug'', a cover of ''Flexible Flyer'' by Music/HuskerDu, sung in German.
69	* WordSaladLyrics: They never really were economical with lyrics, but it went completely out of hand since their self-titled album.
70	** And then some lyrics just have LoopedLyrics.

Context Music / Tocotronic