2016 TOP TEN better late than never.....
In no particular order
LAST CRUSADE - S/T LP. Great Oi! document from this now defunct English-Canadian Oi! Mob. A nod to the past, a tip of the hat to the Templars, whilst looking ahead. Great cover art.
HOSTILE OBJECTS - Negative Space. Long awaited album from these hardworking Sydney sonic hardcore thrashers. Injected with grit and flavour. Great cover art as well.
CROWN COURT -Capital Offence. What a bloody great LP. Following on from their singles, this somehow reminds me of the greats and heavyweights of Oi!, yet sounds completely fresh and non deriviative. Tellin' like it is on the streets 'o London Town, no frills, no crap. Twists and turns of melody, and singalongs. All killer no filler from these unparalleled Oi! champions.
STANLEY KNIFE - Sydney O Sydney. If Crown Court tell us what the streets of London are like, Stanley Knife give us the dirt on old Sydney Town. Whilst the subtleties of Sydney life may be perhaps lost on the wider populace, never mind, this is great rockin' streetpunk. This was my end of year beer soundtrack with plenty of "Oi Oi"s to raise a glass and sing along.
DESCENDENTS - Hypercaffium Spazzinate. The Pop punk legends return with their classic trademark caffeinated energy to keep us all happy. Another amazing LP, can't wait to see 'em in February. Old punks rule!
ALTERNATE ACTION - The Thin Line. Technically a reissue. Absolutely great melodic punk/oi! from this pre - Bishops Green band. Great to finally see on vinyl and glad I was able to score a copy.
HEAVY DRAPES -Should I suck or should I blow EP. Probably my favourite release of the year. 4 songs of Pistols inspired punk rock. Perfect as an EP, 4 songs of magic. With the "hit" that perhaps could have been, "Into the blue" (great vid also), this still gives me spine tingles and still on high rotation. Other people in my house are sick of this record.
RIXE - Les Nerfs a Vif EP. French Oi! Missed their first one. Powerful and melodic. It doesn't matter that they're not singing in English and you can't understand the words, you'll want to sing along.
THE BUSINESS - Complete Studio Recordings 1980-81 I had my eye on this for a while but hesitated; a few of these songs I have on LP or CD 3 or 4 times over. However, this was totally worth the $$, a gem of a record. Great collection of songs, and there's certainly a few diamonds in the rough here. This is kind of an improved version of the"Official Bootleg LP that's been around forever in various formats. The original vinyl one has the same songs as the first side here, with live songs on the B side, and there's a CD with all that, all this, and more. However for vinyl junkies this is the shit. Side 1 is studio recordings with classics like "Out in the Cold", "Harry May", and "Suburban Rebels", with the bonuses for me being "Streets where you live" and "Step into Xmas" which I didn't have. Side 2 is demos, as said, with some real diamonds here, played this side quite a bit. Even the "slower" 60's moddish type songs are good. All up, a great payoff, and a well selected collection of songs divided into two sides. I got this a few weeks before Micky Fitz died, so I dunno how that all fits into the universal scheme of things...... RIP Micky Fitz, elder statesman of Oi!
DAG NASTY - Cold Heart 7" Not quite in the league of their earlier stuff, but a good document of the early of the early lineup, as is now. The "then and now" pics on the inside cover are worth a look.
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