Kat Johnson '24 | Opinion: "mea culpa" Review

 The Best Album You’ve Probably Never Heard About 

From the Austrian rock band, Bilderbuch (“picture book” in English), comes the legendary album, “mea culpa” (2018), or “through my fault” in Latin. I first discovered this album from a single song that was featured in Season 3, Episode 4, of the German YouTube series, “Druck,” which originated  from the Norwegian web series known as “Skam.” Since being released, “Skam” has become an international phenomenon, with seven current remakes in different languages including German. “Druck” first introduced me to Bilderbuch through the song “Mein Herz Bricht,” “My Heart is Breaking” in English. I went on to discover the album, which features nine songs, all exhibiting the band’s signature sound, an almost indescribable combination of indie rock, pop, and electronic music- creating a unique style that has been attributed to art-punk, progressive rock, and dance-punk among other subgenres. 

The nine songs on the album include, “Sandwishes,” “Taxi Taxi,” “Lounge 2.0,” “Emotion,” “Mein Herz Bricht,” “Megaplex,” “Memory Card,” “Checkpoint (Nie Game Over),” and “Aloe Vera.” The most famous song on the album would arguably be “Checkpoint (Nie Game Over)” as it certainly has achieved the most popularity with approximately 6,304,964 plays on the music streaming service, Spotify, at the time this article was written.

While most of the album’s songs are sung in German with some English, one song, “Emotion” is entirely instrumental, and stands at only one minute and thirty three seconds long. The rest of the songs range from just under three minutes to a little over five minutes long, the longest of which being “Mein Herz Bricht.” Many of the songs on the album discuss the writer’s frustrations with love and their romantic relationships.

         Below is my ranking of the songs on this record, with one being my favorite. I encourage you to listen to the entire album and decide on your favorites for yourself! 

1. Mein Herz Bricht
2. Sandwishes
3. Checkpoint (Nie Game Over)
4. Megaplex
5. Taxi Taxi
6. Aloe Vera
7. Lounge 2.0
8. Memory Card
9. Emotion

Although less known outside of German speaking countries, in 2017, Bilderbuch won “Band of the Year” and “Live Act of the Year” at the Amadeus Austrian music awards. Bilderbuch also has many other albums including, Nelken & Schillinge (2009), Die Pest im Piemont (2011), SHICK SHOCK (2015), Magic Life (2017), and Vernissage My Heart (2019). The band also has a number of other singles and EPs.

Overall, I am so glad I discovered Bilderbuch and I would definitely recommend their music to anyone, German and English speakers alike.