Electric Callboy TEKKNO Review: Track-By-Track Breakdown

New band name, who dis? The highly-anticipated album “TEKKNO” by metalcore superstars Electric Callboy is finally here! Fun-loving metalheads around the world have been waiting for a new full-album by Electric Callboy ever since their monumental hit “Hypa Hypa” hit the scene. The band hit their stride and released several hit singles since, but are they able to keep the momentum going for a whole record? Let’s discuss it in this Electric Callboy Tekkno Track-By-Track Album Review.

FFO: One Morning Left, We Butter The Bread With Butter, Motionless In White, Attila

Listen to: Pump It, We Got The Moves, Tekkno Train, Mindreader

Electric Callboy is:

Kevin Ratajczak – unclean vocals, keyboards, programming

Nico Sallach – clean and unclean vocals

Daniel “Danskimo” Hanib – lead guitar

Pascal Schillo – rhythm guitar, backing vocals

David-Karl Friedrich – drums

Daniel Klossek – bass, backing vocals

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TEKKNO Track-By-Track Review

Pump It

Can you name a better way to start off an energetic album than with a heavy gym-worthy banger? “Pump It” is no warm up intro, the track goes hard right out the gates. In hindsight, this track sets up the whole mood and attitude for “TEKKNO”. With this track, Electric Callboy don’t hold back for a single moment. Pump It is a banging from start to finish. With one of the strongest choruses on the whole album and punishing verses and breakdowns to back it up, this song takes the successful format from “Hypa Hypa” and previous TEKKNO single “We Got The Moves” and runs with it.

Pump It is the love child of 80’s synthwave and “gym playlist bait” metalcore. Electric Callboy are at their best when they are having fun and incorporating comedic elements into their tracks. The themes they come up with here and there are hilarious, and the “gym bro” was the perfect parody for this track. The best part of the band’s parodies are that they tease the subject matter, yet fully embrace it at the same time. This creates a track that is funny and enjoyable to listen to at the same time.

This track released last December and I did not find any urge to skip it while listened through TEKKNO. Pump It feels as fresh and energetic as when it first released, which only shows a testament to the fun formula that Electric Callboy have crafted. Nearly half the singles -most being from the first half of the record – were already released months ago. This was a risky move by the band, but fortunately it seems that their tracks haven’t aged a day.

We Got The Moves

This is the first track Electric Callboy wrote following the massive success of “Hypa Hypa”. Tensions were high and so was the hype. It was almost unreasonable to assume the band would strike thunder twice (at least of that level). Fortunately, the band surpassed expectations and proved that they have the moves. “We Got The Moves” proceeded to set a whole new bar for the band’s future music and sound. The heavy anthem quickly became one of the band’s biggest tracks, and it paved the way for “TEKKNO” as a whole.

We Got The Moves is a full on party and a perfect follow-up from Pump It in tracklist order. Electric Callboy keep the heavy in full swing. This track is chunky and chuggy and the riff is absolutely addicting. The party-going chants throughout the track are a lot of fun as well. Thankfully the band released a music video to compliment such a fun and wild track (posted above). The chorus in this track isn’t quite as glorious as the one in Hypa Hypa, but the song is a summer banger nonetheless. The riff and heavy verses carry the track for me.

Like Pump It before it, We Got The Moves released quite some time ago. This track was one of the (late) songs of the summer in 2021, and fortunately it hasn’t aged a day. I found myself enjoying this track all over again while listening through TEKKNO. Typically I prefer older tracks to stay off the record if the single release is over a year apart from the record, however We Got The Moves fits in very well with the rest of the tracks on the record. I give Electric Callboy a pass on this one, however, I do wish the album was a little bit longer to account for these older singles taking a spot on the record.

Fuckboi (feat. Conquer Divide)

This is easily one of the most divisive songs off of TEKKNO. This doesn’t mean the song is bad by any means though. Fuckboi is the first single from TEKKNO that deviated from the typically Electric Callboy formula. This is an understatement too, as the song isn’t just different from most of the band’s tracks, but it is an entirely different genre. Rather than synthwave influenced party metal, Fuckboi is more in line with modern TikTok pop-punk.

The song also features one of the few guest features on the album. Conquer Divide join Electric Callboy to create this pop-punk anthem. Despite the shocking change in sound, I actually really enjoy Fuckboi. I appreciate the change in sound accomplished on this track, and I think the band pull it off quite well. Conquer Divide mix well with the band and help bring out this drastic change in sound. This is just a fun track that might just tease what other sounds the band may dabble with in the near future.

As someone who grew up listening to All American Rejects, Good Charlotte, and Avril Lavigne before getting into metal and metalcore, I appreciate this nostalgic sounding track. Electric Callboy and Conquer Divide did a great job combining nostalgic early 2000’s pop-punk with the modern style you’d find on TikTok. The band ventured out and tried something new (for them), and respect them for it.

Spaceman (feat. FiNCH)

Anyone else get some major “Dayman” vibes from this one? I can’t help but think that Electric Callboy have been watching too much “Always Sunny In Philadelphia” (as we all should be of course). That’s honestly all I can think of whenever I hear “Spaceman” come on. However, I am a huge fan of the show, so this is a very fun reminder. Spaceman is the third single from TEKKNO and it is also the first time on the record that the band utilized German lyrics.

These German lyrics are spit by German rapper FiNCH, and while his appearance is quite jarring at first, I appreciate his feature. The rap verses help separate this song from “We Got The Moves”, which is very similar to Spaceman in style and format. This is the only other feature on the album, and it is interesting that the two tracks are positioned back to back on the tracklisting.

Overall, Spaceman is a fun song with a fun music video. However, I don’t think it is any better than some of the other singles off of TEKKNO, but what do I know? The track is currently the top Electric Callboy track on Spotify.

My running theory is that the band prioritized viral music video potential as the main reasoning for selecting singles for this record. The themes are evident with all the singles on the album. If this is the case, I think it was a smart call. The band now have over 1.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and this quick growth can be attributed to the band’s viral content.

Mindreader

At track five we are finally at the first new track from TEKKNO!

Right when it starts to seem like the Electric Callboy formula is getting predictable, the band throw in a refreshing pallet cleanser. “Mindreader” is a serious track with a beautiful and catchy chorus and a crooning and moody vibe to it. It has kind of a goth rave vibe to it, and I absolutely love it. The song is heavy, dark, beautiful, and it even has some of those synthwave elements thrown in there. This track honestly surprised me, and it was a great reminder that the band isn’t all jokes and memes.

Electric Callboy are at their best when they are being fun and silly, but TEKKNO is a full-length record, and this diversity in style and sound is appreciated at this mid-point of the record. I really love Niko as a vocalist and I find that all their material since he joined the band is top-notch, however I specifically admire his performance on Mindreader. He sounds comfortable and confident in this performance, despite the song being quite outside the realm of comfort for the band’s sound. Kevin also brings the heat on this track, and it is great getting to hear him let loose on the heavy without the comedic undertones.

I predict that Mindreader will be a fan-favorite and a setlist mainstay. I think the mid-way placement of this track is perfect, as it acts as a pallet cleanser and has you ready for some more Electric Callboy fun. Fortunately, that is exactly what you get with the next track.

Arrow of Love

This track is a love letter to those who love the romantic vibes of “Hypa Hypa”. With “Arrow of Love” you get another 80’s influenced banger that is not afraid to embrace the synthwave vibes. This track sounds exactly what “TEKKNO” encompasses as a whole. The song is a well-balanced catchy anthem with its fair share of heavy metal moments. This isn’t the best Electric Callboy song, nor is it one of the best on the record, but I still really enjoy it and find it to be a lot of fun. It reminds me of past song “MC Thunder” a bit and I do love that about the track.

Arrow of Love fits in exactly where it is. I think it works well as a mid-way track that embodies the overall sound of “TEKKNO”. The song is like a synopsis for the band. 80’s, love, rock and roll, synths, and breakdowns. It is Electric Callboy at their most simple and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, this may just be one of the catchiest songs on the record. Sometimes simple is good!

This track is the latest to get a music video, and I must say that the music video is a blast and adds a ton of personality to the track. The Arrow of Love music video features Kalle Koschinsky from the music videos for Hypa Hypa and MC Thunder II (Dancing Like A Ninja). Like MC Thunder before it, the song features a new character to the Electric Callboy lore(?). The music video has Kalle shooting often angry individuals with his love gun, spreading his love to everyone. As always, the music video is great and makes me love the song that much more. Hopefully we get one more music video for TEKKNO at the very least.

Parasite

If you liked “Mindreader”, you’ll absolutely love “Parasite”. This is another dark and heavy serious track – even more so actually – that sandwiches “Arrow of Love”. This track was another pleasant surprised. I could hardly comprehend that this was the same band from earlier. Parasite sounds like like if the classic Electric Callboy track “Crystals” met Bring Me The Horizon’s “Parasite Eve”.

In Parasite, the dark rave vibes from Mindreader are back but taken to a greater extreme than what we heard on that track. The synth behind the instrumentation is unsettling, but in a good way. It really sets the mood and tells you right off the bat that this track is going to be different. The chorus is still catchy as always, but it carries a different tone than what we get from the rest of the record.

Parasite is easily the traditionally heaviest track on “TEKKNO“, we even hear some gnarly lows from Kevin leading up to and during the massive breakdown. The breakdown is headbang worthy and reminds me off the final breakdown from “Hypa Hypa” but heavier. While I love Electric Callboy for their refreshingly carefree and fun attitude, I can’t help but love it when they get angry and serious. This is great placing on the tracklist too, as the band gets down and serious right before the silliest song on the entire record.

Tekkno Train

If you love the silly side of Electric Callboy, this might end up being your favorite song from “TEKKNO”. The boys don’t even try to take themselves seriously with “Tekkno Train”. This is the band at their most belligerent and hilarious. The song is full of sex references, corny jokes, and deep growled choo-choos (yes, for reals). At one point Niko sings “you make my spaggheti ready”, but spaghetti gets soft when cooked. I have no idea what they meant by this, but I love how goofy it is.

I like to think of Tekkno Train as the direct sequel to “Hypa Hypa” with a little taste of “We Got The Moves” and “MC Thunder” on the side. The track starts with some 80’s synths that sound very similar to the start of Hypa Hypa, but the verse is layered with a deep beat reminiscent of We Got The Moves. The song also contains sexual lyrics and references, which further tie it to Hypa Hypa. The track goes full circle with a hilarious bridge and brutal breakdown. Hypa Hypa may not have made it onto the album, but Electric Callboy more than made up for it with Tekkno Train.

Honestly, I hope Tekkno Train gets a music video. I can really see them creating a funny video for this inevitable fan-favorite. Perhaps they could even bring back the costumes from Hypa Hypa and make the perceived connections canon. I personally would love to see that. This is probably my favorite non-single from TEKKNO, which is saying a lot because this album is all killer, no filler.

Hurrikan

This track is easily the bost bipolar song Electric Callboy have ever made. The song disguised itself as a “German Schlager” love song. The music video only exaggerates this image, with Niko and Kevin dressed up in all white while on a boat in the ocean. Honestly though, the German Schlager portion of the track slaps. Nico sounds great and they pull it off very well. I actually wish the song was longer. Additionally, the song is sung in German, and the translated lyrics are raunchy as hell. Check it out if you want a kick.

However, the song doesn’t stay poppy for long. Like a hurricane itself, at only a minute in Hurrikan drastically changes into deathcore mayhem, with Electric Callboy throwing down the heaviest breakdown of their entire discography. The music video does a great job at showing this change visually, and I won’t even try to describe it further myself. Just check out the absurd music video above.

The music video really brings a whole new meaning to Hurrikan. It may have seemed like an old single choice, but if my theory is correct, the band knew what they were doing. The music video was a hit in the scene and caught millions of viewers off-guard. Is anyone creating music videos as memorable and viral-worthy than Electric Callboy?

Neon

The closing track off Tekkno is another serious one. “Neon” is the song that happens when Electric Callboy channel their inner Michael Bolton and Living Things-era Linkin Park at the same time. Overall the song works well, especially as a closing track. I find the track to be well-written and the verses are fantastic. My only gripe is that I find that Niko sounds a little uncomfortable and uncontrolled in the belted portion of the chorus. I appreciate the effort though, and it isn’t bad by any means.

I actually really admire that Electric Callboy got out of their comfort zone and put out a different type of song to close out Tekkno. While Neon is probably my least favorite track from the album, I still appreciate the effort and I definitely enjoy the track.

Closing Thoughts

Electric Callboy went through a lot the passed couple of years. They got a new singer and a new band name. However, all changes ended up being for the better. The band has truly come into their own, and now with TEKKNO, they have released their best album yet. In fact, TEKKNO is may just be my favorite album of the year so far.

At the very least, TEKKNO is proof that metal doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. This album made me laugh, put a smile on my face several times, and even had me headbanging track-by-track. That is a major win in my book!

While the album is short and half of the tracks were released as singles months before the release of Tekkno, it is definitely all killer, no filler. The band sounds tight and complete in this new chapter, and I think Electric Callboy are here to stay. Keep metal fun and wild boys!

Final Verdict: 10/10 Ready Spaghettis

Need More Electric Callboy In Your Life?

Need more Electric Callboy in your life? Revisit “Hypa Hypa” and the seven hilarious other version that the band released with the MXX: Hypa Hypa Edition EP. I go over every version of the banger in the post below.

Eskimo Callboy Release Seven Hilarious New Versions Of Hypa Hypa

Need More Metalcore?

Need more metalcore in your life? I recommend you check out my Bullet For My Valentine self-titled track-by-track album review. The classic metalcore alumni recently released their return-to-form album. The band showcase a sound reminiscent of their early sound, and the record contains some of the best tracks of their career. In the article, I breakdown each and every track from the band’s exhilarating new record in-depth. So check that out down below if you’re interested!

What did you think of my Electric Callboy TEKKNO review? Did you enjoy the new album? Please share your thoughts down in the comments.