BÄRCHEN UND DIE MILCHBUBIS

In the organizer's words:

With "Jung kaputt spart Altersheime", Bärchen and the Milchbubis delivered THE punk slogan of the time at the beginning of the 80s, "No Future!" was the motto. But the band also had plenty of pop appeal beyond punk and operated at the interface with Neue Deutsche Welle. "I don't want to get any older" was the title of their debut album "Dann macht es Bumm" (1981). They have grown older, but not milder, because there is still reason to be angry and celebrate. Over 40 years later, their second album "Die Rückkehr des Bumm!" followed in 2024.

At the end of the seventies, Annette "Bärchen" Simons and a group of teenage "Milchbubis" began to make Hanover unsafe. From then on, the band was widely represented with their humorous and subversive lyrics: From youth centers, underground tapes and niche fanzines to Bravo and West German television as well as on the country's big stages - many had fallen for the Bärchen charm. After an LP and an EP, the band disbanded in 1983 along with the label and the group disappeared from the scene for the time being.

In 2021, Bächen and the Milchbubis returned with the show "Endlich Komplett Betrunken". This was followed by performance requests from smaller punk festivals: wouldn't the band like to perform live again after all this time? And how they did. Annette Simons, who was "only" a singer when the band was founded, taught herself to play the guitar in true punk style. Kai Nungesser also remains on bass and vocals. The new addition is former Rotzkotz drummer Markus Joseph.

Annette sings "Back to the future" in the 80s in "Blondie", thus setting a premise of the new album to music at the end of the track list: it is a time capsule that bursts open in the now and begins to sing. 1984 to 2024 was skipped. Gone are disco, trance, techno and hip-hop. In view of the current world situation, the friendly little bear becomes an aggro bear, defending those on the margins of society and ripping the unspeakable mansplainer to shreds with one paw. Growing older as a woman in a sexist society is a topic that particularly concerns Annette Simons and makes her a role model. In times of online dating, a shift to the right and cat videos, Bärchen is nevertheless not bitter and sings about it all with sharp and sometimes nonsensical humor.

Bärchen and the Milchbubis tickle the anger of the serious punk habitus on the cramped beer belly and set the involuntary laughter that comes out of it to music. The result is an album that catapults punk into the year 2024 and is full of love and humor despite all the aggression, all the injustice and all the moments of sadness. In the meantime, not only old acquaintances can be found among the Bärchen-und-die- Milchbubis fans, but the band has also won over a new generation, including well-known artists such as Sam Vance-Law and actors of the Neue Neue Deutsche Welle such as Steintor Herrenchor, both of whom have even covered songs by the band. So this album is also a starting point for all those who (re)discover and feel punk as an outlet against current social grievances.