oi – Upstarter

Special Duties – 7 Days A Week

So I had a chance to check out the new album 7 Days a Week by English punk band Special Duties. If you’re in the mood for an old-school Oi! sound that’s been polished up and produced in a much more modern way, then look no further, 7 Days a Week is exactly that.

This album is chock full songs about social issues, addiction, and class struggle, as well as some songs that feel like you should be singing along to while tipping back pints in an English pub. And that is exactly what you’d expect from these guys.

At first pass the album kinda falls flat and seems like the lyrics were put together in a hasty, hap-hazard fashion. Subsequent listening will have you singing along to the better constructed tunes like the albums namesake 7 Days a Week and Punks and Bootboys. The songs Fight Back, Rebel and Time Bomb show a more aggressive side of the band and are my personal favourites from this release.

At times the high quality of the recording feels like it takes away from the expected “punkness”. If that’s a thing… but this is just wishful thinking on my part I suppose. It’s not like we can expect modern engineers to deliberately make a band sound like shit… can we?

All in all it’s a passable album, and if you grew up listening to the older British punk of the early 80s you should definitely at the very least, give this a try. I won’t be running out to get the first pressing or anything, but it might be fun to catch the live show at some point.

–Jëffy

The Filaments – Look To The Skies

Fuck yeah!

Here’s something I didn’t even know that I needed. “Look to the Skies”, a the brand new album from The Filaments. Punk, Oi, Ska from Essex, UK. Evidently I’ve been under a rock, as this band has been around since 2009 and here it is the first time I’m hearing them.

I’ve got the new album rolling right now and it’s entirely crushing it. You don’t start out your new album with a track titled ‘Fuck the “Alt” – Right’ without meaning absolute business.

11 tracks of badass punk rock in the vein of Rancid, Bosstones, Street Dogs, Leatherface, The Clash, and more. It’s essentially all of the sounds that I’ve opined about through the years, crammed into a singular action packed album.

I see limited point these days explaining that the band is capable of playing their instruments. It’s getting damn hard to find bands that ain’t worth their salt anymore. Suffice it to say, they do not suck.

Vocals range between Oi style gang vocals on the intro track into Dickie Barrett gravely on track five, “Living in the Crosshairs”. The music follows just as much dynamic shift. Full on ska, in-your-face punk, blistering pick-scratch guitars intros to full orchestral sounds.

This is a bully of a release. Get some!

-Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1. Fuck The “Alt”-Right 01:15
2. Look To The Skies 02:42
3. Rip-Off World 02:21
4. No Men To Parade 02:31
5. Living In The Crosshairs 03:10
6. Underdogs 03:25
7. Tread Carefully 01:57
8. Ask No Favours 04:21
9. All We’ve Ever Known 01:54
10. The Verge 02:30
11. Killing Machine 01:33

THE FILAMENTS – LOOK TO THE SKIES

THE FILAMENTS have released a new track called “Rip-Off World” from their new LP “Look To The Skies,” out June 15th. You can listen to the new song HERE.

The band previously released the title track, “Look To The Skies,” which can be listened to HERE.

Since The Filaments reformed in 2009, they’ve taken their long-established track record of amazing songwriting and energetic stage performances to new heights, and have been steadily attracting swaths of new fans across England, Europe and the world. With multiple full-lengths and countless tours under their belts, these veterans are still full of drive, and roaring to deliver this amazing new album to the world.

This music, like the band, is really one-of-a-kind. Almost like UK ’82 style punk battered by a barrage of dub, 2-tone ska, psychobilly and even a bit of traditional Oi!/streetpunk. It creates an overall sound that is like nothing else; it has something for everyone, and a general appeal that gets people from all segments of the punk community dancing and singing along.

The Filaments are now absolute staples in the punk world, especially at the essential European festivals like Rebellion and Punk ‘n’ Disorderly; but they have also graced the stage at larger outdoor getups like Glastonbury (UK), and others. They are as punk as it gets, but because their music is so unique and SO FUN, and their positive message is so clear, they are by no means ‘too punk’ to scare off the masses. In fact, their very clear message rings even louder, and they stand out even more amidst a backdrop of so much banality.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Fuck The “Alt”-Right

2. Look to the Skies

3. Rip-Off World

4. No Men to Parade

5. Living in the Crosshairs

6. Underdogs

7. Tread Carefully

8. Ask No Favors

9. All We’ve Ever Known

10. The Verge

11. Killing Machine

CATCH THE FILAMENTS ON TOUR!

06/08/2018 – Dijon, France – Maloka Fest

06/09/2018 – Opwijk, Belgium – Loco Fest

06/16/2018 – London, UK – Underworld Camden (Record release show)

08/04/2018 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Rebellion Festival

08/09/2018 – Bristol, UK – Boomtown Festival

09/14/2018 – Derby, UK – Hairy Dog

10/06/2018 – Rennes, France – The Bobbleshop Rennes

Find THE FILAMENTS online:

https://thefilaments.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thefilaments/

Booze & Glory – As Bold As Brass

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Rating:

Fresh off the presses! (as of 01/28/2014) “As Bold As Brass”, the brand new LP from London’s hard working Oi! band Booze & Glory. It’s a rollicking and rowdy one indeed and sure to be a hit with all you street punks and Oi! fans out there. To be honest, this is my first listen to the band, but I like what I’ve heard thus far.

Seriously though, as fans of Oi! and street punk know, any self-respecting band of the genre is going to have driving rhythms, blue collar themes, a whole lot of loyalty to friends and fans, and of course, choruses that are chock full of, “Oi! Oi! Oi!”. “As Bold As Brass” doesn’t disappoint in that department at all.

The songs are solid and well played. This is a band that, while admittedly crafts simple, straight-forward songs, does what they do well. You know what? There’s nothing in the world wrong with that. I like my rock and roll to have a little bit of street edge and a chorus that I can scream along with at the top of my lungs to the point where the next day I’m so hoarse that you can barely understand a word that I’m saying. That’s what the fun’s all about, isn’t it?

Speaking of “about”, as a sidebar, the band’s vocals and syncopation reminds me subtly of Scottish/Canadian punk rockers the Real McKenzies. Odd perhaps, but I guess not entirely out of the vein. At any rate, this an album worth checking out for fans of both Oi! and punk rock.

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1. Off We Go!
2. Leave The Kids Alone
3. Down and Out
4. Waiting For Tomorrow
5. One of Them
6. Julie
7. Only Fools Get Caught
8. Sick of You
9. Farewell Goodbye
10. I Hope You Still Remember
11. Cock & Bull Story
12. We’ll Stick Together
13. Always on the Wrong Side (Bonus Acoustic Track)

Harrington Saints – Pride & Tradition

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With a name like “Harrington Saints”, I’m immediately struck with the idea that this is a serious business, no holds barred, blue collar, in your face, working man’s street punk band. Maybe it’s familiarity with the genre, but there was no mistake in my assumption. These particular saints hail out of a little east bay town know as Oakland. You may have heard of it.

The band has been around since 2005 and Pride and Tradition is their second full-length. This one is produced by Lars Frederiksen. You may have heard of him. With it you get 11 tracks planted firmly in the vein of Oi and Street Punk; Blue collar rock and roll for the poor souls that have had their back broken by the man and get nothing in return.

The music is short, crisp, poignant, and timely yet timeless. (until such a time as people aren’t getting the short end of the stick I guess … so yeah, timeless.) That said, Street Punk isn’t the be all, end all for me. There is a strong tendency to get a bit repetitive. The Harrington Saints work to remedy this by not sticking strictly by the books. Tempos shift and not every track is a full on shout along. The themes run constant though; A desire for more, the tenuous grasp on the American Dream, white collar bandits, the ones who don’t put the effort in for their fair share.

Bottom line: If you like punk rock and you feel like you’ve constantly got the boot against your neck, rock the hell out and shout along with the Harrington Saints when they come crushing through your town.

–Jerry Actually