REVIEWS

A few reviews of what people think of the band.

Brassknuckle - Skinhead 82

Rebellion Records

With releases by B Squadron, Jack The Lad, Top Dog and Hostile Minds, Rebellion Records already stomped out a fair share of rough and ready, British Oi! bands recently. And just when the label announced they’d lay low on signing brand new bands, Edinburgh skinheads Brassknuckle stormed in, booting down the door with their debut CD “Skinhead 82”!

Delivering over a dozen of raw and gritty anthems, the term “no mess, no fuss, just pure impact!” is becoming relevant again. This ain’t pretty, nor perfect, but it’s rough, authentic and in your face skinhead music! The old guard of bands such as The Last Resort, 4 Skins and Condemned 84 come to mind while listening to Brassknuckle’s “Skinhead 82”. Perhaps not directly in sound, but certainly in spirit, as this album just breaths Britain's 80's through and through.

So if you’re looking for that tried and true, spirit of the streets that is rough around the edges, but not a farce, than Brassknuckle is definitely your cup of tea. Song-titles like “Junkie”, “Lies”, “Proud”, “We Had An Empire”, “Skinhead 82”, “Politics” and “Your Boots Have Gone” pretty much speak for themselves, obviously revealing a certain lack of originality in its lyrical content, but the lads from Edinburgh manage to hold their own and release a proper fuckin’ debut album! ‘Av it!

Band: Brassknuckle / Album: Skinhead 82 / Label: Rebellion Records / Year: 2016

Oi! Bring on that classic sound from the early 80’s British Oi! Full of perfect imperfections, Brassknuckle’s sound takes you back to when Oi! was raw and straight forward. Not that there’s anything wrong with the way that Street Punk has evolved, it’s just sometimes we need to return to it’s roots and truly appreciate those golden glory days. Really, the only thing missing on my recording of Skinhead 82 is the clicks and pops that only an old vinyl record can produce.

Brassknuckle’s 13 track debut album is available at Rebellion Records.

Skinhead 82
2016
Rebellion Records
Digipack CD
Oi!

Track Listing:
1. Another Tory
2. One & All
3. Ska Band
4. Junkie
5. Lies
6. Skinhead On The Inside
7. Proud
8. We Had An Empire
9. Bow
10. Skinhead 82
11. Politics
12. United

13. Your Boots Have Gone.

"Skinhead on the inside is just a lonely soldier" _ Lyric from "Skinhead On The Inside"

After first listen This was the lyric that stuck in my head on this, Brassknuckle debut album. Brassknuckle has the rough and tough sound that I fucking love and crave. I warn you now that if you only like the polished, safe sounding Oi! that a lot of bands put out nowadays this record may be to hard and real sounding for some of you. Inspired by the Oi! I and many of you grew up on like, the hard as nail English bands Combat 84, Last Resort, and the 4-Skins to name a few. These guys deliver the sound and spirit of those bands with a raw production sound and the honest attitude I look for.

Just because the band has a hard boiled sound and working class attitude, they due pepper their sound with sonic touches like the striking guitar lead in "Another Tory". The surging rhythm and some of the vocals on "One & All" has my mind and soul thing of Runnin' Riot. And many other songs that make great use of driving rhythms and electric guitar leads that drive their sound fucking home.

Very much like the legendary 4-Skins these fellows take a stab at a ska influenced song with "Ska Band". A cheeky fun song about you guessed it, wanting to be a singer in a ska band. If I said it once I said it a thousand times. Oi! is having a laugh and a say. Brassknuckle does both on this LP.

I quoted the lyric at the start of this review from the song "Skinhead On The Inside", for a few reasons. First being the song is killer! Second, this song confirms a lot of my feelings about being a skinhead for so many years and with the great brotherhood I have I will always feel outside of society and never fitting in to the world. Fucking stand out song that gets it right! The band has many songs about being Skinhead like "Proud" a strong song about how really being a skinhead makes you feel proud. For me when it fits, when you know it is always part of, being a proud skinhead is like wearing armor against the bullshit and sheep. The band also gives us the throbbing hammer "Skinhead 82", I can not get enough of this fucking song. Holly balls, this song sounds like it is from 1982 and that is great in my book. The guitar shreds in short bursts, The chorus is simple but perfectly effective. The lyrics and lead vocals are done well and are the cherry on top. I tip my hat to the band for this song.

One of the standouts is the honest as fuck "Politics". Great sound and committed vocals drive home the fucking truth about the poison radical politics has on the Skinhead culture. The tug-a-war that is being played with our culture and our way of life caused by the fringe and those who feel everyone has to think as they do is fucking retarded and destroying us. If you have read this blog you know were the fuck I stand on many different issues and what I believe as it comes to the human condition. I do not need some nationalist fuck to tell me how to be proud of my country, or who should or should not be in my country or my friend. And I also don't need some sensitive ideologist fuck to tell me what is right and wrong or that the way I think is fucking wrong. Go fuck yourselves. P.S. the guitar leads on this track kill, fucking kill.

Like I have said for four paragraphs this is a hard as nail Oi! record with songs about working, being Skinhead, their country, and the society they see around them. Sounds like fucking Oi! to me! This record is Skinhead Oi! inside and out.

For fans of: Combat 84, On File, Last Resort, Top Dog, Control, Evil Conduct, Get Out, Gun Dog, Plan Of Attack, Razorcut, The Business, Taker & Users, Runnin' Riot, The Warriors, and The Clockwork Crew.

Posted 16th February by Fat Oi! Bastard

Labels: 2016 Brassknuckle Edinburgh OI Rebellion Records Scotland