If you like Wallows you will LOVE Giant Rooks! They should be on tour with Milky Chance in the USA and they should be starting their own tour at the biggest venues in Europe. Of course, all of this has now been postponed. And when it comes to Giant Rooks, there really shouldn't be any shoulds. After all, the band has left nothing to chance in its meteoric rise over the last few years. Yet instead of standing on stage, Giant Rooks are probably sitting around their flats in Berlin in self-isolation and discussing in video conferences how they can put the finishing touches on their debut album “Rookery,” which was released this August. Before then, their second single "What I Know Is All Quicksand" will be released – a piece of music that contrasts strongly with their first-released indie track “Watershed", but one that still stands up on its own.
In 2015, singer Frederik Rabe, guitarist Finn Schwieters, bassist Luca Göttner, keyboardist Jonathan Wischniowski, and drummer Finn Thomas founded Giant Rooks. Their accomplishments have multiplied impressively since then. They won a 1LIVE-Krone Award, a seven-figure group monthly listeners on Spotify, and have sold out concerts everywhere from Rome to Paris to Manchester. In Germany, they're already filling venues other artists only have on their tour schedules after 15 years in the scene. Yet with just three EPs, Giant Rooks seem to sell them out every time and are probably the most promising band to come out of Germany in a long time. They took their time with their debut. Having played more than 350 shows in recent years has given them endless possibilities to refine their own sound.
With "Rookery", the band freed themselves from the idea of how things are "supposed" to be done. The result sounds unified and whole – sounds like 2020 – and spans a frame of reference that's at least unique in German-speaking countries. The beats always sound like Kanyesque hip hop and the song structures even occasionally bring Bob Dylan to mind. The soundscapes are influenced by Bon Iver. The band playfully combines modern influences with classical structures and classical sounds with modern song structures. When it comes to playing music, as well as listening to it, Giant Rooks aren't looking to fit into any one genre or emulate anyone. “You have so many opportunities to discover new music, artists like Celeste or Joy Crookes, not to mention soul. That's been a huge influence for us,” says singer Frederik Rabe. In terms of content, it's an album that looks questioningly into a world of unrest and isn't looking to offer simple answers. Who am I? And how can I find my role in this world?