Alright, the reviews on this here page were all done on dec. 11 '98 or later. You can read the old reviews here. Like before, if you're interested in any of this stuff, drop me a line and I'll let you know where to look. If you want to send me something to review, my address is at the bottom of the page... I'm not gonna pretend to like something I don't though, so if you suck, don't bother. If you're a bonehead band, I'll review you, but be prepared to be made fun of. Finally, some of these releases may be a couple years old, but they're all still fairly new and at least new to me. Hope you enjoy it.

Angelic Upstarts - Last Tango In Moscow - CD reissue
The Upstarts were, as anyone reading this should know, one of the founding bands of the entire Oi movement. The "Teenage Warning" and "2000000 Voices" lps are among the finest examples of what was so inspiring about the original Oi scene, and should be obtained at all costs. (Kind of hard in the case of TW, since it has never been re-issued...) But starting With '82's "Still From The Heart", the band began experimenting with folk, as well as mainstream radio-friendly rock, and as a result the music lost a lot of its power. Now, I'm not saying that everything they did since then has been worthless---all of their albums have a few good moments. That said, this, which I believe to be their sixth studio album (originally released in '84, reissued by Captain Oi!) is far from the band's finest hour. There are a few good tracks--the straight-punk "I think it should be free", the anthemic "One More Day", the acoustic ballad "Jarrow Woman" and the a capella "Blackleg Miner" are all pretty cool. But overall, if you haven't heard the Upstarts before, this is NOT the place to start, as the aforementioned tracks are far from their best, and this album has its fair share of garbage, such as the fuckin' awful title track. Oh... and don't be fooled by the bonus tracks---most of them are demo versions of lp songs, even though the titles are different...

Anti-Heros/Dropkick Murphys - Split double 7"
This is a good one. The Anti-Heros kick out a great new original, "Rich People Don't Go To Jail", which is a lot more Oi sounding than most of the tracks on "American Pie". They follow it up with a clearly-recorded live rendition of "Election Day". On the Dropkicks' half, there's an early version of "Road Of The Righteous" which I think is a lot better than the version that ended up on the lp, and a cover of the Clash's "Guns Of Brixton". The two 7"s come in a nice full-color gatefold sleeve.

Blaggers - On Yer Toez - CD reissue
This originally came out way back on Oi! records, and unlike the rest of that label's back-catalogue, this has been licensed to a Belgian label, Mad Butcher. The Blaggers (ITA), for those of you who aren't familiar, were (are?) a very left-wing Irish Oi band, and the lyrics here are pretty much all political, so if that's not your bag you'd want to avoid this. Musically, they played some ultra-catchy, melodic, but not wimpy-sounding street-punk. In fact, I think they are vastly underrated. If you can't find the vinyl, get this CD. Oh yeah, there are like 11 bonus tracks, but I didn't make it all the way through them... Filler...

Down Division - Muh - Demo
This is a pop punk or "melodic hardcore" band. Sounds to me like Pennywise. I really don't like this style of punk at all, so I probably shouldn't be reviewing this, since I have no idea if fans of the genre would get into this. Sorry.

Dropkick Murphys - Curse Of A Fallen Soul - 7"
The Dropkick Murphys are pretty fuckin' controversial these days--lots of people can't fuckin' stand them. I think it has more to do with the amount of clueless idiots that are into them than the actual music. Anyway, I like 'em, and this 7", their first with Al Barr from the Bruisers on vocals, is pretty good. The standout is definitely the title track, but "The Legend of Fin MacCumhail" is almost as good. On the other hand, "Going Strong" is pretty cheesy, with irritatingly positive lyrics. This 7" is rounded out by "On the Attack", a tribute to early Boston hardcore which sounds a lot like Slapshot, and a cover of Iron Cross' "You're A Rebel" which doesn't really do justice to the original.

Dropkick Murphys/Oxymoron - Split 7"
Two of the more consistently worthwhile newer bands around share a 7". On the Dropkick Murphys side, there's an OK original and a pretty unenthusiastic-sounding cover of Cock Sparrer's "Watch Your Back". Oxymoron have a pretty good new track on their side, and a kind of unnecessary new version of "Weirdoz". This isn't bad by any means, but it kinda seems like both bands were scraping for material for this one.

Guttersnipes - Asylum - CD
This is this British Pop Oi! band's third album,originally released in '94. I haven't heard any of their earlier stuff, so I couldn't tell you how this compares, but this album sounds more like the Smithereens than the Crack. Not really my cup of whiskey at all.

Headwound - Look Good? It Is! - 7"
I liked the one Headwound track I heard on "The US of Oi 2", so I figured I'd take a chance on 'em. They aren't really Oi here though, more like a tougher, more garage-y take on the Swingin' Utters. I really enjoyed "Papertown" and "Some other time, another place", while the other two tracks exhibited a rather troubling NOFX/Screeching Weasel kinda thing... scary... I should add that the cover art is cool as hell.

Main Street Saints - Johnny Bomb - 7"
Lately I've been disappointed by a lot of new Oi... It just seems like a lot of these newer bands don't have their hearts in what they are doing at all, and are just creating songs "by the numbers". So I was really pleased to discover that the Main Street Saints are an exception to this trend. Four tracks that show off the band's originality, songwriting talent, and soul. Plus the singer has that "coughing up a lung" vocal style that I can't get enough of.

The Posers - Worse Than Nothing - 7"
You might all be sick of me telling you this, but the Posers are great. In a time where most punk bands would seemingly aspire to mediocrity, The Posers are busy pumping out future classics. This 7", which was recorded as a three-piece, finds them moving further away from their earlier oi influences, and more towards an angrier, heavier early-'80s hardcore sound. The lyrics this time out mainly deal with taking charge of one's own life and telling those who disapprove to "fuck off and die". "Through My Eyes" is the real standout here, though the cover of the Effigies' classic "Bodybag" is pretty great too.

Templars - Dans Les Catacombs du Studio de l'Acre - lp
I guess this is like a "Templars greatest hits" kind of thing. Contains their side of the Superyobs split w/ Red Alert (some of the finest oi tracks ever recorded, no exaggeration!), their tracks from "Oi! It's a World Invasion" 1 & 2, and a couple tracks each from "Return Of Jaques De Molay" and "Clockwork Orange Horrorshow". A solid listen, but kind of a waste of money if you have all the above-mentioned releases.

Templars - Night Of The Seagulls - 7"
Lemme tell ya, I fuckin' love the Templars. They've gotta be the best band to come out of the '90s, there's no two ways about it. I have yet to hear a bad song from them, though a few of their songs kind of sound alike (bound to happen when you've written over 100 songs...) Anyway, this is another piece of the ever-growing Templars discography, and although there are only two songs, they leave more of an impact than many bands' entire oeuvre. "Night of the Seagulls" is an especially addictive track.

Templars - Poor Knights Of Acre - 7"
This is a limited bootleg of the Templars' first hard-to-find ep. Good stuff of course. Pretty clear production for an early Templars release.

Templars/Oxblood - Powerfist - Split 7"
This came out about four years ago on Vulture Rock, I'm mentioning it here because it's been re-pressed lately. Both bands turn in good stuff, though the Templars have the edge (especially "Bovver Boy"). Only problem is the production---this shit sounds like it was recorded in a garbage can. Both of these bands are still going strong, and Oxblood have improved quite a bit since this came out.

V/A - Backstreets Of American Oi! - CD
This was recently re-released by Step 1, so I'm going to use that as an excuse to mention this, as it's one of my favourite comps ever. It's a great sampling of what American Oi is all about, and even bands that I'm normally not too big on make a decent showing here. There are also a couple of Canadian bands, most notably the mighty Lager Lads. The only problem with this disc? Where the fuck are Pist-N-Broke, who were still around when this came out? Besides that, this is a mandatory purchase.

V/A - Burst Out! West Japanese Skinheads - lp
Some of the best current oi bands in the world are included on this comp from a couple years ago on Helen Of Oi! It seems weird that such a small country could have such a high-quality oi scene, but I guess it's just one of those things... Anyway, For Men, Crikey Crew, Sideburns, Rough Trade and (especially) LRF and Blade put many US and UK bands to shame. It's interesting to note how much better this is than "The Oi Of Japan" from ten years earlier. Best song titles: "Skinheads of Wonderful World" (Crikey Crew) and "We Outstare You" (LRF). Oh, and unlike most of the bands that appeared on the equally excellent "Werewolfen" comp a few years back, none of these guys are boneheads...

V/A - More Working Class Anthems - lp
This came out in '95 and was a follow-up to "British Oi! Working Class Anthems". So it ain't new... Anyway, this is pretty outstanding, featuring some of the best of the then-current British oi scene: Boisterous, Pressure 28, Crashed Out... Also old farts Section Five. The best tracks are by Uni-Own Jack (AKA the Straw Dogs) and Superyob (AKA The Straw Dogs + Frankie Flame). This comp also features The Burning, which is/was Charlie of Another Man's Poison's new band. I think he turned out to be a bone... it sure seems like it judging by the lyrics to "Eternal Fool", unless they're meant as sarcasm, which I doubt...

V/A - The Oi Of Japan - lp
This is a re-press (I think it's a bootleg) of a comp that originally came out in '85 on AA records. You get some really good stuff by Cracker Jacks, Cockney Cocks, and Bad Valtures, as well as some kinda forgettalble stuff. Strangest band: Peate's, who have a ska-beat track with cheap Casio electronics, Talking Heads-style lead vocals, and what sounds like a children's choir... when I first heard their song, I was sick with a fever, and thought I had finally gone off the deep end...

V/A - Oi! Rare & Exotica - lp
This is a great idea for a comp: tracks from bands from every corner of the globe, except the US and the UK... Some of the highlights include Reich Orgasm (France), Central Do Brazil (Brazil), Pscychoterror (Estonia) and Ocho Bolas (Chile). Actually, every song on here is killer. Well, ok, I don't really like 12 Pointbuck, but besides that, this is pretty amazing.

V/A - Oi! The French Connection - lp
There's something about French Oi! that I can't get enough of, so I was definitely eager to get my hands on this bootleg of some of the rarest and best French Oi! tracks. How can you go wrong with the likes of Wunderbach, Lanterne Rouge, Komintern Sect, Snix, L'Infanterie Sauvage, Warrior Kids, Camera Silens, Trotskids, Al Kapott, Kidnap, etc? You can't, so unless you already have an extensive French Oi! collection, I'd definitely have to recommend this.

V/A - Scene Killer - CD
This CD is an introduction to a new US punk label, Outsider Records. Unlike a lot of these types of discs, this is pretty consistently good, with only a few shitty tracks. The highlights: The Authority (a band that I used to hate), Pressure Point (ditto) and Frank's Bootboys from Sweden. The Bodies are pretty cool too. This was a good introduction to a lot of bands I had read about in zines but never got to hear.

More reviews on the way...

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Simon Beneteau
247 Esdras Place
N8S 2M4
Windsor, Ontario
CANADA

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