„Schönheit, Dreck und Ironie“ – CASINO BLACKOUT from the south of Germany know what it means to find themselves. Faced with numerous hurdles and influenced by a recently chaotic world situation, the band has always found ways to break new ground.
With their first sign of life in the form of the album "Punkrocktape" in 2017, the band received a very positive reception, but at the same time experienced a major upheaval in the band structure.
The follow-up "Fragment" was released at a very difficult time, as the global coronavirus pandemic began six months after its release. The pandemic came to an abrupt halt just as CASINO BLACKOUT was gaining momentum in the live sector during the extensive tour with DEINE COUSINE through Germany, Austria and Switzerland in winter 2019. All dates for the following year were cancelled without replacement.
So you could almost say that the "real" CASINO BLACKOUT story only began in the post-pandemic era. The beacon of this development is clearly the third album "Hinterhof Poesie". When the album was released in May 2022, the band had undergone a metamorphosis and entered a new era bursting with creativity and enthusiasm.
The third release becomes an album that is more experimental and outspoken than ever before. Songs such as "Gut genug" and "Bestehen bleiben" on the previous album "Fragment" already signalled the new direction in the symbiosis of both anthemic and melancholic melodies, but it is only on "Hinterhof Poesie" that the new direction can unfold its full breadth. Instead of trenchant punk, CASINO BLACKOUT experiment with pop-punk and repeatedly use its basic ingredients in unusual songwriting tricks that constantly raise the album's variety and expressiveness to a new level. YUNGBLUD, KennyHoopla, the DONOTS and CASPER can all serve as influences here - and that's not all. The feature guests Michael Lettner (MARATHONMANN) on "Wir gegen uns" and Sushi (GHOSTKID) on "Anti Ich" also make it clear that you're not only looking beyond the end of your nose, but also tasting dessert at the next table.
This development is also manifested when looking at the current track release. Modern pop-punk with spherical synthesiser pads and striking electro elements characterise the new CASINO BLACKOUT sound. And so, even after "Hinterhof Poesie", songwriting is the constant creative companion of frontman and composer Flo Tragl. The track "Über/Leben" was recorded together with the Essen rap rocker XELA WIE, for the following single "Sixpack und Billigwein" they collaborated with the Hamburg emo-pop-punk rocker ZIRKEL. CASINO BLACKOUT has thus also broken out of the rigid corset of album cycles and adopted a contemporary release strategy that has further singles in the pipeline and will lead to the fourth studio album in 2025.
CASINO BLACKOUT has also finally hit the ground running in the live sector. In addition to touring with the acts of album feature guests MARATHONMANN and GHOSTKID, the band played countless gigs in clubs, halls and at festivals in Germany and abroad from mid-2022 and shared the stage with acts such as MASSENDEFEKT, ROGERS and SCHMUTZKI. The warm-up shows for the "Rock am Ring Festival 2022", as well as the tour as support for SONDASCHULE and the slots in the supporting programme of the BROILERS at their big open air shows could certainly be highlighted.
In the course of this, new personal sales and streaming records were constantly achieved and many new followers and friends were made. The year 2024 holds several milestones in store, be it the joint tour with ROGERS in February/March, numerous festival appearances in the summer and the first own tour in autumn 2024. All this makes CASINO BLACKOUT look to the future with anticipation and humility.
