Fun split of two songs apiece for Montreal punkers and Parisien skins. AD VITAM’s half is more North American in its approach to Oi!, with the kind of skeletal, no-frills jangle guitar tone of early TEMPLARS and some straight rockin’ riffs. If you didn’t know the provenance of À CRAN, then the tell-tale skronk of sax haunting the split like Banquo’s ghost will answer your question easily. Fans of SQUELETTE and BROMURE will find plenty to enjoy.
Enjoyably knockabout Oi!-infused street punk from this band of Boston bruisers. Unfairly compared to DEATH RIDGE BOYS (Oi! for people who hate Oi!) in the accompanying blurb, this release fits nicely within the pantheon of American Oi!, replete with obligatory TEMPLARS-adjacent gruff vocals (without wandering into caricature territory). A surprise French number is also welcome, yet perhaps thankfully lacking the accursed saxophone by which our comrades from La République are inexplicably enamoured.
More great Oi! from the fine city of Montreal; not sure what they’re putting on their chips over there (cheese curds and gravy aside) but there’s been a steady stream of brilliant Oi! records which have been in near constant rotation for yours truly. It’s Oi! sung in French so certain parallels are naturally drawn with scene stalwarts RIXE, but I’d say this has more of a classic French feel, fans of the Chaos En France series will enjoy this thoroughly. And how fucking nice is it to hear some actual “Oi!”s in the chorus again? Fewer camo shorts and more “Oi!s” please, cheers.
Don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that this is one of my favourite bands still going, up there with MESS, FUERZA BRUTA and CASTILLO; they are the real deal. It seems a little reductive making the comparison merely owing to their shared Francophile nature, but this really does feel like a spiritual cousin to a RIXE EP—earworm choruses, buzzsaw guitars, and gang vox designed to be yelled while covered in lager. Extremely worth a spin.
Band name in Old English-style font? Inexplicable medieval woodcut imagery as cover art? Vocals that can only sound like that as the result of smoking two packs of Gitanes a day? That’s French Oi! baby, and this is very much that. CONTUSION emerges from the same Parisian scene that birthed FACTION S and OUTREAU, and indeed they share many of the same members, as well as a penchant for rough-as-yer-like Oi!—gang vocals, thundering bass, good-time mid-tempo skinhead rock’n’roll all present and accounted for, just how you like it. Nothing earth-shattering here, but we’ll leave that for the longhairs and prog fans.
More brickwall francophone Oi! from LAST CRUSADE and ULTRA RAZZIA alumni, this latest FORCE MAJEURE offering continues their celebratory blend of the classic French Oi! sound with TEMPLARS-style good time skinhead rock’n’roll. Stripped back of frills like a cutdown Lambretta, it still provides all the fun of the fair that one would come to expect. Fans of REICH ORGASM and NABAT will have a lot to enjoy here, as I did.
Split LP from two stalwarts of street punk here. Straight off the bat, it’s clear that the LIBERTY AND JUSTICE side is the more interesting and compelling. The EMPIRE DOWN side is a perfectly workmanlike, metallic-influenced hardcore-y Oi!-ish affair, which is fine, just fine really. No earths will be shattered, no epochs defined. Flip over to LIBERTY AND JUSTICE and we take a tour round a number of genres, some to great aplomb with a country-infused rocker and some THIN LIZZY worship; some to not-so-great aplomb, in particular a ska tune which raised an eyebrow from yours truly. However, the standout track is a stomper written in Tagalog, which is extremely great.
A nicely-done EP from Switzerland’s REVANCHE, featuring four sturdy Oi! tracks sung in French. No frills here; this is as clean as a freshly shaved dome. Opening track “Poucave” and title track “A Jamais” are a saxophone or two away from being indistinguishable from the source material these guys are working from. For fans of the old school (TROTSKIDS) and the new school (MESS, CASTILLO) of the genre.
Avast ye landlubbers and hoist the mainsail, because here comes a 12” of seemingly entirely nautical-themed street punk(?)—while it doesn’t semantically make sense, it turns out that it also doesn’t make for very good music, either! It’s extraordinarily generic; I could see it nestling gently at 4:00 pm on the Breton leg of La Tour Warped or whatever, but I’m not even sure the band themselves would be able to recognise these tunes if they heard them in the wild. One for skateboard owners.
I’m not going to beat around the bush, I love this album. SQUELETTE’s Fin de Partie has so much nuance and substance; it’s dripping with style and replay value. The pleasantly soft and jangly instrumental “Nouveau Depart” kicks things off, and while the comparison was hard to pin down at first, I realized it reminded me of the SMITHS, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. SQUELETTE masterfully weaves acoustic shimmering into their traditional French Oi! style, shown beautifully on tracks “Dans L’Instant“ and “Ronde De Nuit.” Peppered throughout, you’ll also find bits of saxophone and cold synths, both in line with the sort of thing you’d find on ’80s Chaos en France comps. It’s no surprise that it was mixed by Maxime of Chateau Vergogne Studio, who seems to have the Midas touch when it comes to modern Oi! albums. Anyways, bravo SQUELETTE, this shit is magical. For fans of SYNDROME 81 and CAMERA SILENS.
What an absolute joy this was to discover. From the most un-Oi!-like choppy, angular guitar stabs to the distinctly Waterfordian accent, I was immediately shaken from the malaise that a thousand crappy “Oi! in name alone” releases that are farted out by labels that should know better will sink you into. As indebted to the first-wave ’77 mob and anorak-clad post-punkers as traditional skinhead fare, it’s undoubtedly more musically complex than one might expect. However, the lyrical content, with tongue embedded firmly in cheek, covers topics as broad as “fighting down the pub,” “drinking down the pub,” and “car insurance”—it’s a lot of fun crammed into its all-too-brief runtime.
This EP paints itself into a corner pretty early into the first track. Tough guys singing about tough shit amongst the “Oi! Oi! Oi!”s, and bellyachings. The EP comes off as a satire (maybe that’s the point?) before we hit the halfway mark, and it is hard to take any of it with a straight face. Why does it all come off as antagonizing? Hope I don’t get beat up now.
This split has me wondering if I should shave my head. Each band offers up two tracks of hard-charging, tough-as-nails Oi! sung in French. Montreal’s FORCE MAJEURE tread the more traditional path of the two. From the razor-sharp jangly guitars and prominent walking basslines, to the clenched hi-hat drumming—this just ticks all the right boxes. Expectedly, the vocals are gruff and forceful, with just a hint of tunefulness. These lads would fit nicely on a bill with SQUELETTE or REĆIDIVE. Hailing from Paris, TCHERNOBYL pounds the pavement with boots of a darker shade. Chorus-drenched guitars lend atmosphere to what might be described best as “Oi! for a rainy day.” Building on the legacy of CAMERA SILENS, TCHERNOBYL are dour and melancholic in the best possible way, à la SYNDROME 81. There’s not a dull moment on either side of this record. Time to lace up and call the barber.
Oi! from France. Oui? There’s some kind of wordplay to be worked out here. Regardless, this Nantes-based crew fully brings it with seven tracks of rough-and-tumble working class rumblers. This feels cozy alongside contemporaries from across the channel CHUBBY & THE GANG and the CHISEL, hitting the same sweet spot of bluesy stomp with beer hall shout-along anthems that are properly pissed-off and world-weary. The guitars cut really nicely here, just the right amount of sharpness on the ear. The vocals have that rock-gargling quality to them as well, exactly what you’re looking for in proper fookin’ Oi! If you’ll pardon my incorrect French: this is très bonne merde, indeed.
First things first, I think the name of this LP is genius. Musically, this record bounces around between traditional, melodic punk and Oi! In the end, I think I’d call it “street punk,” which is somehow different from Oi! to me. It’s mid-tempo and steady and pretty catchy. I like it. If not mind-blowing, I’d say this is very solid.
Very little warms the cockles of this cynical old herbert more than a good ol’ fashioned slab of Francophone Oi!, and ULTRA RAZZIA has done so in spades. Not quite as brickwall as broader scene contemporaries FORCE MAJEURE or FUERZA BRUTA, instead a slighter darker take on the genre, without fully slipping into the type of glacial post-punkery that has snuck in round the fringes. Certainly on the heavier end of the scale for Oi!, with riffs like treacle and bass that could cause a hazard to shipping, but never quite losing that “get your mate in a headlock” sing-along chorus that keeps us coming back for more. Keep it coming.
Another split from Primator Crew, this time bringing Montreal scrappers ULTRA RAZZIA and Bogotán mob DEAD HERO together on wax for the first time. The former’s side of the split is characterised by their signature sparse but muscular take on Oi! More in common with some of their more hardcore contemporaries, but if LIONS LAW or BROMURE are your type of thing, you’ll find something to enjoy here. DEAD HERO’s side offers a more of a lighter touch, but is perhaps even more fun. It’s a real love letter to a type of punk many of us fell in love with first; it’s safety pins on a school blazer, think maybe VICE SQUAD out on the piss with COCK SPARRER and you’re in the right ballpark, ’77-in-’82 fun times for all.
Two of the hardest contemporary Québécois Oi! bands join forces for this split LP. Bringing together on wax both of their respective demo tapes and sprinkling them with a bit of studio remastering magique to give them a bit of brawn. BÉTON ARMÉ’s side of the split is in keeping with the fine tradition of francophone Oi! (sans saxophone), replete with buzzsaw guitars that if you told me had been transported directly from 1985, I’d believe you. ULTRA RAZZIA takes a slightly rougher, more punk-tinged approach, in keeping with more modern offerings like COUPE GORGE or TRAITRE. It also includes a joyous French-language cover of BLITZ’s “Razors in the Night,” which is almost worth the cost alone.
