MARCHING ORDERS

LIVING PROOF

This one’s a cracker. Melbourne’s Marching Orders, have been around for a while. They’ve been on quite a few compilations, have had their own various releases, and “Living Proof” is their latest. This is oi!/streetpunk for now; true to their influences without being derivative. The roots of good old 80’s oi! are definitely entrenched in their DNA, and they’ve taken that to a new level.

If the two opening tracks “Dog eat dog” and “Guilty by suspicion” don’t hook ya in from the outset, go and listen to the Offspring or some other shit. Well executed twin guitar riffs, with distinctly Aussie vocals. As on the rest of the record, there’s plenty of melody and hooks and singalong choruses. It’s all about reality here, there ain’t no sugar coating ,they’re just calling it as it is. Side one closes with “Hand of Fate”, a vocal and guitar only song which is nonetheless still powerful, and packs a wallop. Side two opens with “Spirit of ‘84” as I mentioned, they’re true to their roots (“after all these years oi!’s the beat of the street”). The last song “Songs of yesterday” (Do you remember singing along to every word of every song/when the music seemed to mean much more yesterday/there’s no substance being played on the radio today/the music seemed to mean much more  yesterday/We’ll sing the songs of yesterday”) – too true.

A nicely packaged record (which is always good, as that’s part of the appeal of vinyl), this one’s yellow vinyl. The sepia-tone alley way cover indicates life’s realities for the working class, and is another nod back to mid 80’s oi! . Comes with an insert with lyrics, and although the band-against-the-wall photo has been done many times, I like it. This has great production too. That is not to say the record’s over produced or “slick”, but it’s got a great warm and full stereo sound. There’s also a download code for those interested.