German trio ElKremso aims to encapsulate everything rock should be with an “authentic, straightforward and rough” sound that they describe as “dirty garage rock (made with love).”
The Frankfurt band was formed in 2022 by friends Mike (guitar and vocals), Brenne (bass) and Flo (drums), who love to play rock together. They got to know each other at university and founded the band some time after graduating. The trio announced themselves with the catchy Love Doctor followed by Sugar Mama, and it’s probably safe to say their eye-catching artwork garners them some attention.
On the sound they’ve honed, Mike told us: “I think we have quite a raw rock sound. I would consider our music in the garage rock genre, whereas it also has some influences from rock’n’roll and metal. Best is, of course, to make your own picture by listening to our great music.”
Our latest taste of this is Only When You Cry, which was released on Friday. It opens up with light guitars joined by a plodding bass and light cymbals, with drums creeping in to gradually build the pace. Mike’s engaging vocals join in and intensify to lead us into a big catchy chorus. The pace drops again with another verse, which again builds towards a singalong chorus that this time ends with a cool guitar solo. The pace slows again, but it suddenly bursts into life with big final blasts of the chorus.
On the track, Mike told us: “I think Only When You Cry is our best song so far – it has a great atmosphere as well as a deep meaning. I think the vocals support this a lot and the bass and the drums are doing the rest. So overall it will be a great song which will definitely gain more attention for ElKremso.” Check it out in their live video here:
That follows on from a series of singles over the last few years, including the funky previous release Show Me, the catchy Humit and the old school Rock Machine. Then there’s the aforementioned Love Doctor. It opens up with fun stabbing guitar chords and rolling drums that drop into an engaging opening verse, leading into a catchy chorus “Love doctor, You will never be alone, Love doctor, It’s like set into stone, Love doctor, Go around and tell your friends.” A second chorus gives way to another funky guitar solo, before rounding out with a final verse and chorus. Check it out in the video here:
The ElKremso takes influence from the likes of Linkin Park, Böhse Onkelz and Iron Maiden with a sprinkling of Metallica, ACDC and Mötley Crüe.
And on what inspires them to write music, Mike explains: “I think this is quite hard to generalise as we have all kinds of topics from the present and past. Some songs are about relationships, some about the meaning of life and others touch on some stories from our past. So over and over the songs are about our history and what ElKremso’s band members have gone through.”
We’re enjoying the raw, catchy and authentic sound of ElKremso and, let’s face it, you can’t really go wrong with fusing catchy vocals, singalong choruses and cheeky guitar solos. The trio will release their next single You And I in June, with plans to get back into the studio to release more music later in the year. They also have plans to play gigs around Germany.
And Mike added: “First of all Thank you for your great support so far. It has been a pleasure to release music and receive all the great feedback from you all. This is truly a driver to continue to rock on. Stay tuned for more great songs to come in 2025 and some live gigs we are going to play. And maybe in 2026 we will see each other at some gigs all over Europe as well. So it is definitely worth keeping an eye and an ear open for more from ElKremso to come. Stay safe and keep on rockin’.”
You can follow ElKremso on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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