Lali Puna are from Weilheim, Bavaria, Germany. The band was brought to life… Read Full Bio ↴Lali Puna are from Weilheim, Bavaria, Germany. The band was brought to life in early 1998 by Valerie Trebeljahr who sings and plays keyboards. Having a lot of time on her hands after her all-girl-band L.B.Page had split up, she used the four-track-recorder as a kind of band replacement. Then came Markus Acher, relaxing from his The Notwist and Tied & Tickled Trio duties (and from living in a house with Mr. Morr) and thus he became Lali Puna’s second member. After some of those early four-track-recordings were released on the beautiful Snooze- 7-inch-ep on Hausmusik, it became clear that this music should also be played on stage. And so drummer Christoph Brandner (Tied & Tickled Trio, Console) and keyboarder Florian Zimmer (Iso 68, Fred Is Dead) completed the band’s second incarnation.

The band worked with Tim Simenon aka Bomb The Bass resulting in the release of the Clear Cut-EP on Morr Music. Lali Puna did some remix work with Two Lone Swordsmen and Lowfish as well. Being the great live act they are, Lali Puna played in places as distant as Bratislava, San Francisco, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Barcelona’s Sonar festival. Most of 2001 was spent working on their second album, which finally appeared as Scary World Theory in September of that same year. Artistically as well as commercially, this album was even more successful than its predecessor. They also released a remix-7-inch for Morr Music’s „a number of small things“-label and they have been touring Germany and Europe extensively at the end of 2001. In the fall of 2002 Lali Puna went on their first US-tour and shared a van with Morr Music label mates and friends Styrofoam and Opiate.

A few months later Florian Zimmer left Lali Puna in order to focus on his main project Iso68. The new keyboarder is named Christian Heiß. In the summer of 2003, Lali Puna released their Left Handed-EP on Morr Music, which displayed a significant musical progression as Lali Puna started using electric, distorted guitars which could not be heard on earlier releases. This helped shaping a yet more diverse and dynamic sound without neglecting Lali Puna’s past regarding their fragile and beautiful electronic compositions. All the way through 2003 Valerie Trebeljahr and Markus Acher have been busy writing new material for their third full-length album, which was recorded at the Uphon Studios and eventually has been mastered at famous Abbey Road Studios in London in December 2003. Faking The Books, as it is called, will be released in April 2004 on Morr Music, followed by an extensive European tour. Plans for the future include a remix 12-inch featuring some of Lali Puna’s most favourite artists as well as their second North America tour in fall 2004.

The story of Lali Puna is inextricably linked to that of the Morr Music label itself. The band's classic Tridecoder album was the second ever release on the imprint back in 1999 and set a new template for electronic rock music that's remained in place ever since. In parallel, Morr and Lali Puna have evolved from humble, experimental beginnings before eventually coming to represent the vanguard of modern pop.

Fronted by singer and keyboard player Valerie Trebeljahr, Lali Puna's line-up is completed by drummer Christoph Brandner (also of Tied & Tickled Trio), keyboard player Christian Heiß and Markus Acher - an artist already highly regarded for his work as part of The Notwist. Over a decade of recording together this band have continued to grow in strength, confidence and studio expertise, cuing up a triumphant return to full operational capability on Our Inventions. The album's title was in place early on, helping inspire the sonic template for what's surely Lali Puna's most sophisticated and emphatically electronic collection of work to date. More than ever these songs place the group at the cutting edge of their art, facing up to the onset of an abstract, digitised future whilst retaining a timeless sense of musical ingenuity and endeavour.

It took fellow Weilheim luminaries The Notwist until their sixth album to finally reach worldwide recognition, breaking through with 2002's Neon Golden. Now, with Our Inventions, Lali Puna seem poised to crossover in a similarly incendiary fashion. In an age when the very notion of an album seems like an outmoded conceit, Lali Puna are a band that both demand and amply reward the investment of their audience over a full-length narrative. Our Inventions is a defiantly complete listening experience - one that exudes craftsmanship and captures the band at the peak of their powers as songwriters.

December 2009

B-Movie
Lali Puna Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's like in a B-movie
You always know what's coming next
Place for just one hero
Bad guys all around
But don't let Arnie be our last hope

I know, I know too well
I know, I know by heart

I know well

It's like in a B-movie
You always know what's coming next
I am so sick and tired
Of all your muscles and your sweat
Let the hero keep the house clean

I know, I know too well

I know, I know by heart
I know well

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Lali Puna's "b movie" describe a situation that is similar to a B-movie, where the outcome is predictable, and the plot is full of cliches. It's a world where there is always one hero, and the bad guys are just waiting to be defeated. However, the singer seems to be tired of the stereotypical male hero, whom they call Arnie, referring to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred in many action movies in the 80s and 90s.

The song's lyrics are not just about the lack of originality in Hollywood movies; there is a deeper message hidden in them. The singer comments on gender roles, stating that they are tired of seeing male heroes with bulging muscles who are always fighting off the bad guys. They want to see something new, and something different, a hero who is not a typical muscle-bound man.

The repeated line "I know, I know too well, I know, I know by heart, I know well," suggests that the singer is familiar with the cliches and the stereotypes that are prevalent in movies. They are aware of how the plot will unfold, and they are tired of it. Overall, the song is a commentary on the predictability of Hollywood movies, and the singer's desire to see more diverse and original characters on the screen.

Line by Line Meaning

It's like in a B-movie
Life feels like a cheesy movie with predictable plotlines.

You always know what's coming next
Everything follows a formulaic pattern, with no surprises.

Place for just one hero
The narrative only allows for one central protagonist to save the day.

Bad guys all around
The world is full of people who mean harm and must be defeated or outwitted.

But don't let Arnie be our last hope
We shouldn't rely on a single muscular hero archetype to solve all our problems.

I know, I know too well
The singer is intimately familiar with this narrative structure.

I know, I know by heart
The singer has memorized this type of movie.

I know well
The artist has a deep understanding of how B-movie plots work

I am so sick and tired
The artist is exhausted and frustrated with this formula.

Of all your muscles and your sweat
The artist is disillusioned with the macho, hyper-masculine tropes used to create heroes.

Let the hero keep the house clean
The singer suggests that heroes can be simple, everyday people, not necessarily action stars, and should be capable of performing mundane tasks.

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: VALERIE TREBELJAHR

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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