The Oliver Twist (later to be known as The Oliver Twist Band and then Eine Oliver Twist Kooperation) were a band from Cologne, Germany, active from 1999 until 2006. Their changes in name reflected a steady changing of their sound over each album release, starting in emo before moving into post-punk\dance-punk and finally ending at electropunk, moving them beyond the jurisdiction of this blog. But I've assembled their first three albums, all of which include emo to a varying degree.
Their first album, 1999's sweet, sweet and coffee talk, is pure 90s midwest emo pop, sitting somewhere between The Get Up Kids and Cap'n Jazz, with the vocal performance leaning heavily towards the latter. Just prior to the album, the band also released a split 7" with Colt with two songs, one of which was rerecorded for the LP. This first LP is my favorite of the band's releases, a great slice of late-90s emo pop. The band also contributed a track to the great Achtung Autobahn compilation, along with Reno Kid. Another band on that compilation, The Robocop Kraus, may have proven very influential, given The Oliver Twist's future direction.
Their next album, 2001's Automatic Construct Kill, isn't too far removed from the first in many respects—depending on the song. It brings in a lot more influence from post-punk and post-hardcore, being a bit harder-edged in general and showing early signs of the band's eventual sound with additional usage of synths and electronic beats. Two years later, the band would release their third album in 2003, which saw them moving an even greater distance from their emo roots. This change was marked by different branding; they became The Oliver Twist Band, a less abstract and slightly more formal version of the same name. While noticeable traces of emo remain, especially the emocore revival of the aughts, new tricks and traps is really a post-punk\dance-punk album.
In 2006, the band would rename themselves again, this time to Eine Oliver Twist Kooperation, and embraced an electropunk sound that is well outside this blog's focus. If you're interested, you can find the album on Spotify. New tricks and traps is also on streaming, but for some reason is missing the ninth track.
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