MAXIMUMROCKNROLL.COM (USA) FEB 2024 Hamburg’s KÜKEN (“Cock”) showing up like the neighborhood kid you haven’t seen in a while, and suddenly he’s all grown up and muscular and shit on this third self-titled LP. Their previous efforts have been great, delivering some of the best garage punk of our time, but now they’ve evolved into certified killers, playing top-tier dirty rock’n’roll to rival even the finest moments of classic Rip Off Records and such. The eleven sharp tunes here carry an effortless swagger, and every song is a banger. The band’s signature shambling groove established on tracks like “Stick Meat” from their debut LP turns up polished and perfected on tunes like “Off The Track” and “Goatleather,” flooding my brain with dopamine every time it hits. There’s an obvious RAMONES homage at work in these songs, along with a rare degree of sophisticated juvenility that reminds me of ’90s French punk heroes the SPLASH FOUR, and overall they’re just really in-the-pocket on this shit-hot thumper of a record. It’s a perfect soundtrack for exhibiting poor judgment, risking it all, or just, you know, getting over-excited while driving home from work. (BM)

greennoiserecords.com (US) Feb 2024 KÜKEN slapping roses from your hands, twisting the throttle and hitting it like pistons, a motorbike racing a freight train, from Hamburg and it shows, blend of joy and sorrow, the weight of the engine lifted on the wind rising over the asphalt, pop songs dipped in the grit of an oil pan of a blown engine, motoring down a two-lane blacktop through the crossroads of MC5 and Ramones, blasting out of the forefathers of the 1950s but without a hint of twang or rockabilly or getting it clogged up with intentions, maybe recalling some key garage-punk rock 'n roll bands of the 1990s, but maybe more like launching out of the bands that inspired all that, like that explosion in the 1970s when Americans landed in Europe armed with bad attitudes and buckets of gas to chuck on the fire, like some European punks, and Detroit and East Coast folks of the late 1970s who didn't give a rats ass about cashing in on some new wave bullshit sounds and just focused doing what they had to do, kicking over the cash register, kicking the bankers in the gonads, and kicking out the jams (mw)

fasterandlouderblog.blogspot.com (USA) DEC 2023 Merry Christmas, rockers! Dressed as Santa Claus, Daniel from Alien Snatch Records has snuck into the house and slid new releases from Sex Mex, Graveyard of the Pacific, and KÜKEN under the tree. What a way to close out a year! I have documented the musical career of twins Philipp and Chris since 1999, when they debuted as the teens in the magnificently trashy Highschool Rockers. In 2003, they formed The Kidnappers — who would go to become one of the premier garage punk/powerpop groups of the 2000s. Since 2014 or so, they've been playing more straight-forward punk rock in the powerhouse trio KÜKEN. Just like the two that preceded it, KÜKEN's new album is self-titled and in no mood to mess around. Only two of 11 songs make it to the two-minute mark as the boys tear through one track after another of ornery yet totally catchy three-chord punk rock. For those who always enjoyed the Kidnappers' punkier songs, KÜKEN III is like a whole album of that. If ripping '70s-style buzz-saw punk with a fuck-off attitude is your thing, songs like "Run Away from Me," "Goatleather," "I Don't Care About You," and "Roses" will warm your soul this holiday season. It's great to see Philipp and Chris back on the mother ship, and Daniel has celebrated not just by releasing this smasher of a record but also by reissuing KÜKEN's second self-titled album from 2017 on secret colored vinyl. Head on over to Alien Snatch's Bandcamp page and make your reservations while you still can! (Josh Rutlegde)

Tremendo Garaje (ES) DEC 2023 First of all, I apologize for not having paid more attention to a band like KÜKEN before, a three-piece with at least 10 years on the road that sounds so insanely cool and essential, but certainly if ever they had to star in our channel, what better than with their third full-length on the always accurate Alien Snatch Records... What an absolutely must-have album! It's been a long time since an album surprised me so much at first listen... What a three-piece, it doesn't suit them to be from Hamburg, and nobody should take this in a pejorative way, you know German scene is one of our fundamental foundations, but when you hit "Play" you will prove me right, first cause you will need no more than 10 seconds to fall in their clutches, I have always said that "crush" is the only true love, and this album proves me right again, and secondly because this super-muscular KBD power-pop-punk made of fabulous garage-rock riffs that will blow the minds of the "old school" fanatics, seems to have much more to do with the decade and the place referred to in their album cover's graffiti "New York 1973", than with anything else, both in the power of their "first wave" vibes and in their insane melodic conception with a certain Ramonian touch! Anyway... An indispensable gem to close a year that never ceases to amaze us! (Jose)

ox-fanzine.de #173 APR 2024 Zwei KÜKEN-Platten in einer Ausgabe, wie soll das zu schaffen sein, wie geht man vor, welchen hanebüchenen Unsinn lässt man sich einfallen, um den ungehobelten Straßenkehrer-Rock’n’Roll, das diffizile Klanguniversum von KÜKEN angemessen zu würdigen, zumal die experimentellen Ansätze seit dem Ausstieg von David Jon Gilmour im Jahr 2013 vollständig an Einfluss verloren haben. Man könnte die ähnlich gelagerten Rezensionen zu ihren vorherigen Alben lesen (siehe die Rubrik Rereleases oder Ox #120) oder sich einfach bei einem Glas Asbach Uralt verzaubern lassen, auf dem muffigen Cordsofa der Eltern eintauchen in eine Welt zwischen Playmobil-Figuren, TESTORS, QUEERS, PSYCHO SURGEONS, ROCKS, VICTIMS und Tiefkühlpizza. Mehr kann ich nun wirklich nicht für euch tun, mit Punkrock müsst ihr euch schon selbst geißeln. Hauptsache, es artet nicht wieder aus.(DK)