photos by Sarja Hasan, words by Woodrow Mousecock

Cockney Rejects @ MHOW, 2/22/2013

This past Friday night (2/22) seemingly all of the old skinheads in the TriState Area made a pilgrimage to Williamsburg for the first ever NYC show by the Cockney Rejects whose tour hit that night at Music Hall of Williamsburg. The venue was filled up from the get go with NYC Oi stalwarts The Templars kicking off the show. Next up were Murphy's Law who's singer Jimmy Gestapo might just be the Don Rickles of Hardcore. Not sure which is more fun -- watching him sing songs or talk shit between them. California's Youth Brigade went next and brought the California street punk.

Then it was time for the Cockney Rejects. From the minute they took the stage with "We Are The Firm," it was clear that they were excited to finally be playing in New York City. Brothers Jeff and Mick Geggus (singer and guitarist), the two original members, looked and moved like the former standout amateur boxers that they are. Both guys bounced around the stage like they were ready for a punch up all night long. If you had just walked into the show, you might have though you were at a West Ham Football Club Rally with all the jerseys and also the massive "NYC Hammers" banner hanging onstage behind the band. (The NYC Hammers are a loosely affiliated group of skinheads and casuals who support the West Ham club.) Hell, if there were a group of supporters of another club in NYC that were crazy enough to fight them, then you might even call them hooligans. The club turned into a drunken singsong / near riot when the Rejects played their cover of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," a song traditionally sung by West Ham supporters. The Rejects closed the show with their 1980 hit "Oi Oi Oi" which gave the genre it's name. How fitting.

More pictures from MHOW (though unfortunately none of The Templars) are below.

Continue reading "Cockney Rejects & Youth Brigade played Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Murphy's Law & The Templars (pics, review)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

The Blood UK

The Blood are a London-based punk rock band, formed in 1982. Led by Cardinal Jesus Hate and JJ Bedsore (AKA Colin Smith and Jamie Cantwell), the band formed in the early 1980s under the name Coming Blood. Their music is a blend of hardcore punk, Oi!, heavy metal, football chants and shock rock.

Many of their songs criticize religion or discuss political or philosophical topics - [Wiki]

UK punks The Blood will bless Acheron on Saturday (12/8) alongside support from Agitator and Artificial Limbs. Tickets are on sale. The show is one of a select few North American dates scheduled for the UK band, and their full tour slate is below, along with some streaming audio.

Continue reading "The Blood (UK) on the road, play NYC show at Acheron (dates)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Hard Skin at Acheron, 8/13/2012

One part hilarious comedy act and one part damn good oi band, Hard Skin played Acheron to a sold-out house last night (8/13) as part of a short string of dates surrounding their tour around This is Hardcore. Hard Skin was joined by appearances from the fantastic metallic d-beat crew Murderess, NYC punks Sad Boys, Family Fun and Coffin Fit. Pictures from the show are below.

Hard Skin spent half of their set playing uber-catchy Oi and the other half making fun of the crowd, but it was all in the name of a good time. Fat Bob, who you may recognize from the Record Store Dude series (and who is also reportedly an A&R man at Rough Trade), quipped:

"We've come to take your shit American dollars. We've done that so you can all leave."

"Hello New York, the place so shit you had to name it twice."

"You are the country that gave us the Dropkick Murphys. You have that on your conscience."

After a short set (30+ minutes?), the band announced their last song to the grumble of the crowd. Fat Bob responded:

"Shut the fuck up. You pay peanuts, and you get monkeys."

Fat Bob, I disagree.

If you missed Murderess, make sure to get out to Acheron on August 20 where they'll team with Trenchgrinder and Death First to put a cap on their East Coast tour. Dates are below, along with a stream of one track, "For What?" Probably the biggest surprise of the evening and a fantastic live band.

Pictures from last night's Acheron show, that Murderess stream and all Murderess dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Hard Skin played Acheron w/ Murderess, Sad Boys & more (pics, review)"

Hard Skin during CMJ 2010 (more by Konstantin Sergeyev)

Hard Skin will bring their UK oi comedy show back to US shores this summer when they kick off a round of dates with their previously discussed appearance at This is Hardcore. From there, the band will play one more East Coast show (in Brooklyn at Acheron on August 13th with Murderess, Sad Boys & Coffin Fit) before skipping around the country to play shows on the West Coast and in Texas. Full tour schedule and some audio below...

Continue reading "Hard Skin add US dates surrounding This is Hardcore"

photos by Jason House

Oi! is a melodic type of punk-rock which originated in Britain around 1980 and has since spread throughout the world. The forefathers of Oi! (Sham 69, Menace, The Lurkers, Slaughter And The Dogs, Cockney Rejects, Cock Sparrer, Angelic Upstarts, etc.) played what some of the smarter press of the time dubbed, "real-punk" (i.e. punk-rock with a message/theme of "social realism"). A lot of the press who courted the original wave of punk-rock, wholly ignored or wrote-off what was soon to be called Oi! as "thug-rock," and thus insured unfair treatment of the genre right from the get-go.

Around 1980, bands like the 4-Skins (East London), Infa Riot (North London), The Last Resort (Herne Bay), Red Alert (Sunderland), The Business (South London) and Blitz (Manchester) began to pop-up all across Great Britain. This phenomenon of strikingly similar-minded, yet unrelated bands was quickly clumped together as "Oi!" by Sounds journalist Gary Bushell, taking the name from the classic Cockney Rejects song, "Oi! Oi! Oi!" Bushell not only gave Oi! its name, he compiled and gave the world the first Oi! compilation, "Oi! The Album" (released by EMI injunction with Sounds magazine). "Oi! The Album" -- though not a truly stellar record or even completely representative of the Oi! genre of the time -- set the precedent for the compilation as an important part of the Oi! movement, as witnessed by the release of countless Oi!-focused compilations world-wide ever since its release. Musically, Oi! is generally distinguished by anthemic melodies, terrace-style backing vocals and a pace/tempo more suitable for pogoing and singing along, than slam-dancing and stage-diving. Together with ska and reggae, Oi! forms the musical focus of the traditional skinhead subculture, and together with hardcore and classic punk-rock, it forms the musical focus of the punk subculture. [FAQ for skinheads]

Oi! punks The Business kicked off a US tour at Mercury Lounge in NYC on Friday night (9/2). Pictures from that NYC show continue below...

Continue reading "The Business brought the skinheads to Mercury Lounge (pics)"