Sometimes we discover a band through a carefully considered recommendation. Sometimes they appear while we are investigating the local concert circuit and make us wonder: wait, who the fuck are these people, and how did we not know they existed this close to us?
That was BAITS with All Filler No Killer.
The title is deliberately backwards. BAITS removed anything that didn’t improve the songs, extra bridges, unnecessary solos, whatever stood between a hook and its destination. They wanted every track to work independently, almost as if every song could be a single.
And yes, they actually pulled it off.
All Filler No Killer packs eleven individual bangers into just over half an hour. To us, it doesn’t feel driven by one grand narrative or an overarching concept and it doesn’t need to be. Its sense of cohesion comes the unmistakable sound of four people having a ridiculously good time together.
We learned the record by playing it over and over, unable to leave it alone. Eventually, we saw BAITS live and the whole discovery came full circle. The energy on the album became sweat, movement and the distinct possibility of destroying your neck.
“Fucking Fake” is an immediate introduction to the band’s combination of humour, social frustration and pop instinct. “Playing God” pays off in the chorus big time. “Take Me Out” hits with riot-grrrl force, while “Expensive Toys” gives the record a heavier and more emotional ending. Elsewhere, “Sleep With You” and “Hello My Love” show that BAITS can be vulnerable, sweet and very funny without losing their edge.
At the centre of it all is Sonja Maier. Her voice can carry anger, humor, intimacy and complete fucking authority (sometimes within the same song). Whatever emotional register she chooses, she sounds entirely in control. Live, Sonja is a total badass at every point, every time.
Underneath the immediate pleasure, the album has more to say than it initially lets on. “Fucking Fake” examines social masks and manufactured authenticity. “Hey Girl” confronts catcalling. “Sleep With You” searches for closeness and safety against exhaustion and objectification. “Caught in a Bubble” looks at algorithms, echo chambers and our diminishing ability to understand lives outside our own.
The ideas are there if we want to follow them, but they never stand between us and the riffs. Sometimes music can question power while also hitting us in the face with barre chords. In fact, it probably should.
The influences are not difficult to recognise. Nirvana, Hole, The Distillers, The Breeders and several other children of the alternative ’90s are all nearby.
The album also turns out to be surprisingly flexible. It works while driving, preparing to go out, lifting something heavy or sweating inside a small venue. It has survived both very good days and very bad ones. That may be its real achievement: it understands that anger, humour, vulnerability and joy do not have to live on separate records.
All filler, apparently. Every one of them killing.
This version of BAITS is already becoming a chapter in the band’s history. Bassist Bernd Faszl has recently left the lineup, while new singles have started revealing what comes next. A new album is now reportedly being prepared for spring 2027.
Listen where you listen:
