TOP PUNK and Oi! VINYL for 2015

My favourite pick of the vinyl I got in 2015, in no particular order;

BISHOPS GREEN  -A Chance to change One of my favourites and possibly the best  punk/oi! release of 2015. Bishops Green follow up their self titled EP and the “Pressure” LP with their trademark  melodic  oi! infused punk with a bit of a nod to some of the UK 82 stuff. Great black and white artwork and splatter vinyl. Combined with Greg Huff’s heartfelt vocals and lyrics make this a complete winner.

RAZORCUT – Rise Again. Another favourite, again great artwork from Rebellion, great Aussie Oi! drawing influences from the past with a modern feel. Contains a bona fide modern Oi! classic in “Raise your glass” that rivals anything from the 80’s glory days of Oi! 

POISON IDEA – Confuse and Conquer. They’re back with a vengeance. Completely eclipsing their last effort “Latest will and testament”, this is classic Poison Idea in 2015.

MOTORHEAD –Bad Magic. One of their strongest perhaps since “Kiss of Death”. Not so into their cover of “Sympathy for the Devil” though. Nice Gatefold cover, and interesting track listing on the back with the CD track list (comes with  CD) –which is the same as the vinyl, just without two sides . RIP LEMMY.

AGNOSTIC FRONT – The American Dream Died AF are well and truly back again with this one. AF’s last release “My Life my Way” was  heads down, business as usual, but it had an upbeat feel to it. With this one their anger has bubbled back up to the surface with a vengeance.

REDUCERS SF – “Essentials”  4 LP Box Set  Reducers drew  inspiration directly from the likes of the original UK  Oi! - Cock Sparrer, Chelsea, The Adicts, and The Business, filtering and digesting them to produce their own sound which has a distinct US slant. The result over the 4 LP collection is a unique brand of good time, singalong, melodic oi!/streetpunk. Package wise this is an absolute winner. The box slipcase that contains the LP’s  is well done with a great cover. The albums themselves have all the artwork and inner sleeves with good quality cardboard and stuff with nice quality printing. Each album has a different colour heavy vinyl.

COSMIC PSYCHOS –Cum the Raw Prawn Your friendly  Aussie neighbourhood punk-yobbo psychos are back with an arse tearing ball ripper. This record is heap of fun. Piss is taken, as I imagine a fair amount of piss was drunk during its making. This is Oz yob punk rock lunacism at its best. Package wise you can’t complain; beer coloured vinyl with an insert pic of the Cosmic Yobbos. Nice, chunky sound but without   any glossy polish, suiting the Pyschos  perfectly.

CRUX/CRASH  -Split EP Been looking out for the Crux EP in some form for a while. Here it’s paired in  its orginal split EP Form backed with The Crash, the greatest UK82 band I’ve never heard.  Original copies go for a bit on ebay. Both are solid melodic oi! in the case of Crux, and Melodic UK82 in the case of The Crash. Great artwork and packaging, glad I was able to snap this one up.

SOCIAL DISTORTION – Mommys Little Monster - Ltd Edition Reissue. This was one I’d also been looking out for a while, only had a CD of this one, and a little expensive for first edition pressings. SD’s first, and their “punkest” LP.

STRANGELHOLD Self Titled  10” EP  Female fronted razor-throated buzzsaw oi!/punk. Taking their cues and inspiration from 70’s and 80’s oi! and punk,  they have a sound all their own, fusing those elements with both melody and grit.

7”S

CROWN COURT -  Ruck and Roll 3 song EP, back to basics no bullshit Oi! from London. 

LAST CRUSADE – Self Titled EP. Reissue of their sold out debut 7”, originally their demo. Great singalong Oi! from this London-Canadian band now unfortunately defunct

THE SQUATS – “Noise Overdose” Reissue.  This band would later go on to  morph into “The Magnificent”. Great snotty punk originally from The Netherlands, 1982. I saw an article where a bloke from the Netherlands town of Nijmegen (There is a song on the EP “Chaos in Nijmegen”) searched for a copy of this EP for 15 years. And then it was reissued.

Honourable Mentions; Hard Evidence  - “Last One Standing” EP, Vanilla Muffins -  “The Triumph of Sugar Oi!” Reissue, Lions Law -  “A day will come”, The Vile – S/T 7” EP, Cro-Mags – “Age of Quarrel” reissue on the Boss City Sounds label.