Reviews

Common People

Attack Total Total Attack EP

Fun punk/pub rock out of Sweden, which is surprising because this sounds a lot like the bands that  came from the Chicagoland area in the mid-to-late ’90s—very similar to WALKER and WINEPRESS and all of the other Harmless Records groups, probably because each song has these simple little guitar licks that are catchy as hell. Singer reminds me a lot of Joey Ramone mixed with Frankie Stubbs of LEATHERFACE fame. The kind of band I’d love to come across on a pub crawl. Big fan of this EP, and think it’s well worth a spin.

Lebel Passe Á  l’Assaut! EP

FrancOi!phone rage from Montreal. Rough and raw, but with skeletal basslines that don’t sound dissimilar to the spartan noise of Lille’s TRAITRE or Brest’s SYNDROME 81 in parts. Short and to the point, like a proper haircut, and at under a tight ten minutes it doesn’t outlast its welcome either. Just the right side of unpolished, too. Worth your time.

Fearless Veterans / Offensiva split EP

Tedious, apolitical “anti-PC” posturing aside (tell you what would actually shock me, would be this mob producing anything approaching original), this is your run-of-the-mill Euro Oi! which you have undoubtedly heard a thousand times before, and almost certainly done better. Miss it like it’s jury service.

Vis Vires The Fight Goes On LP

Never personally understood the fascination with some skins in pretending to be a Viking warrior (it was shit, lads! You couldn’t even get Wi-Fi or a decent lamb tikka bhuna!), and this record is unlikely to convince me, really. From its opening salvo of audio library sword-clashing, to its tough-guy vocals singing of victory, pride, and storms, it’s a quaintly macho record, more in common with MANOWAR than its Oi! labelling, all IRON MAIDEN wailing guitars and not enough grit. If you liked that BATTLE RUINS record, or think you’re from eighth-century UppÁ¥kra, this may be for you.