V/A - Oi!....rare & exotica LP

Label: Teenage Rebel Records (Fun & Glory); Year: 1997; Format: Vinyl LP

I suppose it's Oi-week or something along those lines. Firstly, earlier in the week I listened to a German podcast with one of the members of the well-known band Loikaemie, and secondly I am actually going out tonight to see some Oi bands of which two are local Buffalo bands, and yes believe it or not Buffalo is starting to have somewhat of an Oi scene apparently. So in order to get myself in the mood I thought I listen to some Oi even though I don't have many records of said genre, but there are a few. The initial plan was to listen to both Volumes of Oi!...rare & exotica but to tell you the truth I can't remember ever seeing an LP packing more music onto one single piece of Vinyl than the first volume, hence I am sticking with just one. Also, I am actually not sure how this Compilation came about originally as I do recall ordering it from Germany at the time, and at the same time I also remember a friend of mine telling me that Ruediger of Teenage Rebel was behind it, but the record does not indicate such anywhere. I assume it was compiled and released by Ruediger, just not official. Regardless, there is a lot of great music to be found on here so in that sense I am glad I gave this one a spin today. In total there are twenty-two songs from equally as many countries clocking in at over fifty minutes on one LP, so make sure your fridge is well stocked with beer or whatever it is you fancy drinking. With the exception of very few acts such as Reich Orgasm from France, Kohu-63 from Finland or Zona A from Slovakia the bands contained on this record are definitely obscure and unknown, most likely even to some Die-Hard Oi freaks. Some of the stand-out tracks are by bands from South America, such as the excellent "Eternos Amigos" by Central Do Brasil (obviously from Brazil), the superb kick ass aggro contribution by Argentina's Comando Suicida with "Grito Proletario", "Lautaro Rocanrol" by Ocho Bolas from Chile or an outstanding cover version of Vice Squad's 'Last Rockers' by Antisociales from Mexico. Of course there are also standouts from Europe with Greece's Birthward '82 song being one of the best on the whole record (someone please reissue their EP from the '80s!). Stromberg Polka with "Hoffnung" were interestingly one of the earliest German Oi bands taking a strong stand against right wing attitudes, while Psychoterror from Estonia deliver a hit with "Let's Oi!". Not to forget are bands from really far away countries such as No Tag from New Zealand or Cockney Cocks from Japan. As you can see the list is long and there are only two to three songs that I think could have easily been left out, which would have helped with the sound quality I imagine which isn't bad though considering how much music was squeezed onto this. I've got to say that I am going to see if I can find some more recordings by certain bands on here as a quarter of a century after this was released lots has happened in terms of reissues by some of these really obscure acts. Stay tuned for Volume 2 down the road and keep it real! Oi!