Fast and loose bangers from CLAIMED CHOICE, whose energy has a hopped-up sense of swagger from beginning to end on Genuinely Crafted Noise. This is a perfect record to play while getting ready for a night on the town with the crew, sounding at times like everyone from GIUDA to the RIFFS to CHUBBY AND THE GANG’s first record. Call it Oi!, call it glam, call it punk, it’s all rock’n’roll to me and it rules, OK?
Three brawny bruisers of the harder end of Oi!-influenced hardcore here, with luminaries from FUERZA BRUTA, among others. Gravel-gargling vocals and a sound that suggests ARMS RACE having a go at (saxophone-less) French Oi!—add a leftfield GO-GO’S cover into the mix, and you have a very promising first release.
Have you ever wondered what it’d sound like if HIGH ON FIRE’s Matt Pike decided to stop dicking about and get into full MOTÖRHEAD worship instead? Me neither, and as it turns out it’s a question that probably should remain unanswered; in the ether. LVGER’s debut full-length only clocks in at six songs but feels about six years; with several tracks pushing an agonising four minutes in length, the sheer lack of urgency or any self-control really begins to drag at stages. While the riffs are undoubtedly robust, there’s more than a little of the bootcut jean about this record and it’s hard to ignore. Not for me.
Canadian flat cap botherers RECKLESS UPSTARTS land with their debut LP of meat-and-potatoes shorthaired rock’n’roll. Opening track nails their politics to the mast by clearly stating their unequivocal SHARP-ness, which I will always appreciate. As for the record itself, it’s more tuneful than I expected, clearly pitching at the more anthemic end of the Oi! spectrum. However, toward the arse end of the record, there’s a totally inexplicable and absolutely honking rendition of the MAXINE NIGHTINGALE classic “Back Where We Started” which made me pull a face that I last did when I accidentally trod in dog shit, and quite frankly, if I wasn’t a prison abolitionist, I’d be calling for a custodial sentence. That being said, while it’s certainly not going to be a bona fide classic by any stretch, it’s perfectly fine and I’m sure it’ll make some lads in sambas and West Ham scarves happy enough.
The Deadly Dutchmen SAVAGE BEAT are back with a reissue (including two added tracks) of their debut 12″ of extremely fun bootboy rock’n’roll. Reminiscent in parts of ROSE TATTOO or turbo-charged SLADE, all with a glam stomp running through the middle of this record like a stick of Blackpool rock. Daft yobbo music for people who don’t take themselves too seriously.
Solid, self-proclaimed “street boogie” out of Amsterdam. This is the kind of music you can make your mind up on within the first twenty seconds; if you like the first track you hear, you’ll probably like the rest of them. That statement rings even more true here, as this is a collection of singles, so there’s no attempt, or need really, for much dynamism from track to track. This is twelve tracks of high energy, guitar-licks-a-plenty, SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS-inspired rock. Sounds like there is a full-length on the way in 2025, and I’ll be sure to see how they go about creating a cohesive album, but as these individual singles are apparently tough to come by, this gathering is a great holdover until then. Shout out to the great cover of “Paper Dolls,” too.
The BUZZERS with two mercifully short tunes here on this 7”. Band bops along at a decent pace, but for some reason the singer has chosen to adopt the voice of some kind of street-smart crow, perhaps wearing a bowler hat, smoking a cigar, and saying “what’s the big idea?” It’s a shame really, because it truly is passable for what constitutes modern Oi!—has a bit less studio shimmer and is not un-TEMPLARS-like in places, too.
Alas, not a posthumous release from Rik Mayall (more’s the pity!), this is instead a Dutch outfit seemingly attempting to revive the “glory days” of Oi and breathe life into the sort of dated shite beloved of the haunted ghouls still going to Rebellion Festival in 2020. It sounds like bad COCKNEY REJECTS karaoke, retreading some already very well-trodden tracks. Hoxton Tom didn’t wear trainers mate.
Another edition of “don’t judge a record by its cover.” At first glance, I thought “Oh great, some uninspired Oi!/street punk stuff.” Again, thankfully, I was wrong. A solid mix of street punk and glam rock mixed up with a dose of heavy distortion on everything. This is rad. It’s got just enough elements from all of its influences that you can’t really pigeonhole it one way or the other. This one is gonna get some solid time on the ol’ turntable for sure. This is the type of record that should appeal to anyone into punk, no matter the subgenre. It’s a fucking banger.
San Fransiscan Oi! outfit ULTRA SECT returns with another collection of rough-as-yer-like tunes, albeit ones in which they are pretending to be vikings or Normans or Visigoths or what have you, which is absolutely one of my least favourite contemporary Oi! tropes (although it is microscopically less annoying than people who’ve never been singing about the pub or football). Topic analysis aside, it’s pretty good stuff, a decent take on modern Oi! albeit a subcategory of it for which I don’t particularly care.
