Album Review: The Donots - 'The Long Way Home'

Cohesevity. It’s not a word but if it was it would mean “a consistent sound from the beginning to end of a record.” ‘The Long Way Home,’ German punk band The Donots’ eighth studio album, lacks cohesevity, as it sounds more like a assortment of tracks written and recorded at severely different times.

For those who know the band, you will know that they have been together for fifteen years and have a three top twenty releases in their homeland of Germany, for those who don’t, you do now. The reason for the absence of cohesevity may well be spawned from that of good intentions, as it is clear that the group have tried to break away from their standard punk sound to broaden their musical horizons, an honourable idea however in this case, executed poorly.

The inspirational sounding beginning of Changes leads to some catchy, arms-around-shoulders, group singing that could nearly be mistaken for a track from a 30 Seconds To Mars record. This quickly turns into a synth-punk jam called Calling, which maintains the echoed guitar lines and gang vocals but is let down by its awkward verse phrasing and blatantly blatant lyrical content. For those familiar with the band’s back catalogue, this is a drastic departure from the rawer punk style of their past.

It’s not all bad news as it is clear that this is an accomplished group of musicians who play well together. Dead Man Walking is a return to their punk roots that has a western style flair about the lead guitar line and Who You Are is a lighter alternative rock track that features some nice harmony lines. The record ends with the soft acoustic ballad Parade Of One, and six bonus tracks taken from an older release called ‘Coma Chameleon.’

The Donots have all the right ideas, and can pen some fun little tunes. Their attempts to branch out from the punk genre they know so well and try some different things should certainly be applauded, however some more work is needed to make sure that a record with such a diverse range of ideas flows smoothly to achieve that much desired cohesivity.

1. Changes
2. Calling
3. Forever Ends Today
4. High and Dry
5. Let it Go
6. Dead Man Walking
7. Make Believe
8. Who Are You
9. The Tears Gone By
10. Hello Knife
11. Parade of One