This came out in 2000 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Did you ever notice that there never were any good original grunge acts from outside the U.S.?
Think about it: even at its peak, all the big boys — Nirvana, Soundgarden, Everclear, Pearl Jam, yadda, yadda, yadda — were American. (Silverchair and Bush don’t count; they’re just copycats.) Listening to Launched, the American debut from Germany’s Beatsteaks made me realize that these guys are the first truly worthy European grunge act I’ve heard. This quintet hit all the teen-spirit touchstones — pummeling drums, screeching guitars, stop-start anthems, primal-scream vocals — with enough mosh-worthy verisimilitude that you can’t believe they didn’t grow up downing espresso in Seattle. But they manage to pull it off without sounding like a bunch of Nirvanabes, thanks to an undercurrent of post-pop melodicism and anthemic soungwriting that owes just as much to post-grunge outfits such as Foo Fighters. They may be a little late to the grunge party, but they can still rock the house.
