DeeCRACKS Announce “20 Years. A Frantic Effort”

Photo by Florian Lehner

Lifers. It’s a title many in the world of punk rock can aspire to, but few can truly claim. Even fewer can earn that distinction not just attending shows or enjoying records, but actively maintaining a band of your own, relentlessly making new records and touring across the entire world, year in and year out. But Vienna, Austria’s favorite sons, DeeCRACKS are punk rock lifers. They’ve been doing just that for 20 years now, and they have zero interest in slowing down.

“It’s a lifestyle really,” remarks guitarist and singer Matt DeeCRACK. “It’s surely what we always wanted to do. Those 20 years were literally flying by.”

Drummer Mike Dee Crackus echoes the sentiment. “The years just added up without us really noticing.”

One might get the impression the secret to hitting a milestone as significant as a 20 year career in music as nonchalantly as these fellows have is to simply try to have as good of a time doing it as they do!

To mark this milestone in their career, the band are releasing “20 Years. A Frantic Effort,” a massive triple 10″ colored vinyl retrospective compendium of their favorite songs from the past two decades. But don’t think for a second that DeeCRACKS would try to sell you a stodgy, frozen-in-amber “Greatest Hits” collection.

“We decided to revisit our career and re-recorded our favorites and what we think are the band’s classics, as well as two completely new songs,” says Mike. “This way, we have songs from 2003 up until 2023 on one album…and in one great sounding production.”

“We decided to record some songs a little closer to how we would do them live but give them the studio treatment,” adds Matt. Indeed, the inspiration for the tracklisting is largely based on the band’s world-renowned live show, where the raw energy of seasoned punk rockers comes ripping out of every tune.

And being able to revisit those tunes after road testing them for all these years inspired the band to add just the right amount of studio magic, including new vocal harmonies, guitar parts, or keys, while staying true to the live set. They even dove into some B-sides and deeper cuts to find new life there. “Finding out that some songs actually do sound good when properly produced was a pleasant surprise as well,” laughs Matt.

The studio was very much a family affair, with contributions from former 2nd guitarist and longtime recording engineer Marco Perdacher, and gang vocals from the band’s close friends, including Manu, the original in a line of rockers to have served honorably as the band’s bassist over the years!

The pair of new songs, “Burnt Out” and “Where We Belong,” are a song about facing your demons and a straight up love song, respectively…two sides of the DeeCRACKS’ coin. They are certain to take their place in the band’s canon alongside this collection of revitalized classics for both longtime fans and newcomers alike. Or as Matt puts it, “I think if you don’t know what we are all about and you check out A Frantic Effort, you’ll get a clue.”

DeeCRACKS are celebrating their 20th anniversary with this release as well as a two-night festival on November 17 & 18, 2023. As a fitting testament to a band that have spent the past 20 years making friends wherever they go, artists from Japan, the USA, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the UK, and Australia are all converging on the Arena in the DeeCRACKS’ home base of Vienna to take part in the celebration!

Cheers to 20 years of DeeCRACKS…and on to the next 20!

DEECRACKS TOUR DATES:

10/06/2023 – Graz, Austria – Ernte Punk Fest

10/07/2023 – Prague, Czech Republic – Punkový Dýchánek 4

11/17/2023-11/18/2023 – Vienna, Austria – Arena Wien – DeeCRACKS 20 Year Anniversary Fest

Source: thoughtswordsaction.com