Wretched Ones - S/T LP; Live EP; Tributes Suck EP and Live on a Five Single 

Label: Headache Records; Year: 1993; Format: Vinyl LP

I had planned to do this Wretched Ones entry quite a while back as May 23 of this year marked the 25 year anniversary of seeing them in Hamburg, Germany supporting the Angelic Upstarts. Anyway better late than never so here we go with a longer entry dedicated to this quartet from Midland Park in New Jersey. Not too long ago I posted about one of the Headwound EPs on Headache Records and had a bit of a look on their FB page since they seem to be still going strong. There I stumbled upon a German podcast dedicated to Headache Records, which was run by Pit, the singer in the Wretched Ones. Quite frankly not much is to be found on the worldwide intranet about the New Jersey '90s Oi scene, or the Wretched Ones in particular, but in a way I really like that even though the band deserves much more recognition for their output. In said podcast the guys talked about quite a few bands that appeared on Headache Records, but I was really mostly interested to hear what they had to say about the Wretched Ones. It was no surprise that they too thought the band brought a fresh wind to the Oi genre. I have never been much of a fan of Oi per se but during the '90s the Wretched Ones from the East Coast and Bonecrusher from the West Coast were two of my favorite bands, both capable of fusing elements of '80s hardcore punk with mean and raw Street Rock'N'Roll. In that sense the American Oi bands set themselves apart from the more traditional '80s UK Oi sound, which in my opinion was more often than not quite lame in contrast. The Wretched Ones have a history in hardcore punk as two of their members, Pit on vocals and B.T. on guitar, were members of The Burnt who released an LP on Mutha Records back in 1985, followed by a few EPs on Headache Records. The band transitioned into the Wretched Ones as early as 1988, but it wasn't until 1993 when the first LP was released, and what a cracker of an LP it is. I am nearly ashamed to say that at one point I had almost the entire catalogue of the Wretched Ones in my collection but when I needed money the records exchanged hands and wandered to a friend of mine in the UK, at least they are in good hands. Luckily some years ago I was able to find a copy of this LP for cheap and I will continue buying back whatever I don't have anymore. The 16 songs on the LP can be described as American Oi classics, and I do mean each one of them. Stand out tracks are "Going down the Bar", "Working Man" or "Time marches on" but again they're all brilliantly simple yet ass-kicking songs. The Wretched Ones had a habit of writing as many songs as possible about drinking beer and working bonebreaking jobs without ever getting boring, and I mean that as a compliment. In all fairness Schaefer Beer should have paid the guys large sums for their free advertisement and the Toxic Avenger should have hailed these guys when saving New Jersey from the next chemical disaster. Fill your fridge with beer and give this one a spin, you won't regret it.  

Label: Knock Out Records; Year: 1999; Format: Picture 7" EP

God knows how many days I have lived now in my nearly fifty three years of existence on this screwed up planet, but in all fairness how many of those days do I or any of us remember? I think it's fair to say not many. But, there are those days which we'll never forget, and for me May 23 of 1998 is certainly one of them. On said beautiful Spring Saturday I boarded a train heading from Zurich, Switzerland to Basel early in the morning and from there I got on a Deutsche Bundesbahn express train that got me to Hamburg by around 4pm. I recall heading straight to the Hafenstrasse by Hamburg's vast port and there was already a large contingent of Punks and Skins drinking cans of beer and generally having a good time. A friend of mine from Switzerland was meant to come along on the trip but had to cancel last minute. I had no problem going up to Hamburg on my own as up to that point I had never seen the Upstarts and the Wretched Ones alone would have made that trip worthwhile for me hence it was a no brainer. On top of that the gig took place at Grosse Freiheit 36, a renowned venue that hosted early Beatles gigs and is up to this day one of the most famous locations for live music in Hamburg. The atmosphere leading up to the gig in front of the venue was absolutely electrifying as people from around Europe had made the trip to Hamburg to witness an unforgettable evening. It so happened that at some point I was approached by a group of Skins who had made the trip from the Eastern parts of Germany (former GDR) asking me where I came from. Somehow they were fascinated by the fact that I had come up from Switzerland and bought me several rounds of beers throughout the night which I definitely didn't mind. What can be said about the gig, and in particular the Wretched Ones? I thought all bands put in a great shift, including Oxymoron who jumped in last minute to replace the Dropkick Murphys. By 1998 the Wretched Ones were not as unknown in Germany as one would think as Mosh of Knock Out Records has licensed the first two LPs by the band and as a result of that the guys from New Jersey had a dedicated fan base in Europe, mainly in Germany. The fact that the band was flown in just for the one show in Hamburg baffles me to this day, but I am glad they were. The Wretched Ones sure as hell didn't disappoint and the crowd of more than 1'000 thanked them loudly. The four songs on this Live EP are proof for the remainder of this civilization that New Jersey produced some fine music, and the Wretched Ones are never to be forgotten for that. After the gig I joined some of the people of Klasse Kriminalle from Italy, members of Red London and B.T. from the Wretched Ones on a trip to a bar on the famed Reeperbahn and I'll never forget how B.T always ordered two beers at the same time, one to down really fast and the other one to last a bit longer. After a long night of great live music and drinking I walked down to Hamburg's train station and took a train to Cologne to catch Motorhead the next day, a Sunday night. It wasn't until Monday morning that I finally returned to Switzerland, tired and with my ears ringing, but full of memories I will never forget. Cheers! 

Back of the Live EP as well as the ticket to the gig and to my surprise I even kept the train ticket in the record, great memories!

Label: Headache Records; Year: 1998; Format: 7" EP

In 1998 the Wretched Ones and Headache Records had enough of waiting on some labels to release Tribute records and decided to put their contributions on an EP appropriately called "Tributes Suck". The four songs enshrined on this EP are all classics in their own right, and I'll be a lazy bastard and just type up what the back of the EP says: 

1. Pirate Love - Originally recorded for Sky Krebs Records (who?) over four years ago. This guy was gonna put out the best tribute ever, blah...blah...Last we heard the master tape was stolen out of his car (yeah right). 

2. Just To Get Away - We agreed to get this in right away, the release date, after all is already next month. Half a year later we get word it's out. We are lied to a few more times that copies are in the mail. We figure we'll never see it. (Note: we got 'em now as this goes to print, thanks)

3. No More Heroes - Recorded for Elevator Records, this guy has bullshited us along for two years now that this thing would be out in another "month or two" Our feeling is he's about an hours drive away from a punch in the head. 

4. America The Beautiful - Dictators! OK now we're cooking. What song do you want us to do? What's that? America? That's note a Dictators song. Huh? It was on a Japanese 45 or in a movie? Can we do something else? Oh well OK we'll do this if it's that important. Well it's been way over a year ago, we've heard nothing about a release date, and our contact has since quit the label. Serves us right I guess. 

Well, hopefully in the end the band got copies for all those wonderful Tribute records, but even if not, this EP rules as the Wretched Ones obviously paid tribute to those songs the right way. 

Label: Headache Records; Year: 1996; Format: 5" Single

Well, time to grab a beer, some food and finish this off with the last record for this extended Wretched Ones blog entry. And guess what, it's a 5" record, and the only one in my collection. Two live songs are to be found on this tiny piece of vinyl with "We're not stopping now" recorded live in Wanaque, NJ by Harry Baggs one one side, and correct me if I am mistaken but I think that's the place I looked up when reviewing the Headwound EP hence the show was probably with them. And by the way the town seems almost as small as the 5" record. On the other side you get "I hated school" recorded live in Newark, NJ by an unknown audience member. Who knows and maybe this blog entry will solve the mystery and we'll finally find the unknown audience member. Please contact the HQ of HFTP as soon as you can! Cheers! 

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!

Slapshot - Back On The Map Mini-LP 

Label: Taang Records; Year: 1986; Format: 33 1/3 12" EP

On my daily bus commute heading home this afternoon I thought I better get my lazy ass up and write up a blog entry tonight. Several records came to mind, but then I thought we are in the midst of the Stanley Cup Final hence Slapshot would be the perfect fit after all they wish their beloved Boston Bruins had not exited the play-offs in the first round after outplaying the entire league in the regular season by a mile. If you are reading this and happen to be an ice-hockey fan like myself then let me tell you that the Vegas vs. Florida final has not grabbed my interest whatsoever as I don't believe in hockey under palm trees, but to be fair to both teams they deserve to be where they are. On to music though now and a classic record that belongs in every record collection, something that must be said. Back in 1986 Crossover was in full swing and while said sub genre without a doubt gifted us some great records there were a lot of lame bands that the world has forgotten about a long time ago. Out of the remnants of Last Rights, Negative FX and DYS came Slapshot in 1985 and while they stayed true to their classic Boston Style Hardcore Punk they definitely threw in a good measure of UK Oi Punk in the vein of Blitz, Business et al. The seven songs contained on this Mini-LP are all simply fantastic melodic yet aggressive songs that on top of that were recorded 24 Tracks which makes a huge difference, and which I wish a lot of bands had done back in the day. Shoot that puck hard and stay out of the penalty box!

V/A - 10000 Years Punk - A Beijing Punk Compilation

Label: Xiandai Gongren Changpian (TAM Records); Year: 1998; Format: 33RPM 7" EP

If you have been interested in worldwide punk rock then I am absolutely positive that you have come across the name Luk Haas. Luk travelled to approximately one hundred and twenty countries and started Tian An Men 89 Records in 1993 in order to document and to release punk rock from countries around the globe where many of us wouldn't even think punk rock existed. Luk got turned on to punk in the early '80s and travelled to Poland for the first time in 1983 where he made connections with local punks and bands. Later on he would travel to the former Czechoslovakia (where I was born) and the former GDR and make connections there as well. He also introduced punk rock from the former Eastern Bloc to a worldwide readership via his scene reports in MaximumRockNRoll. I tried to find out more about the story as to how this EP with four Beijing based bands came about but couldn't find anything online. I would imagine that Luk had visited Beijing in the '90s and met the bands leading up to this release, unfortunately the only release I have on TAM. I must admit that musically this isn't a record I am in awe of but let's put things into context and come to the realization that back in the '90s the bands presented on this EP were most likely the earliest when it comes to punk rock from mainland China. The two songs on side A by Wuzhengfu Zhuyi Nanhai, also known as the Anarchy Boys, are actually decent Oi Punk tracks whereas the three tracks by Nao Zhuo aka Brain Failure on the other side offer similar quality and style. The other two bands, one of which is Reflector are more in the '90s pop punk vein and not interesting, at least not for me. Reflector were apparently the first chinese band to play on US soil in 2001 and Brain Failure have releases several records in Germany since this EP. More than anything records like this one demonstrate that punk rock is and always has been a truly global phenomenon and that the quality of songs is not always what matters the most. 

The Discocks - Voice of Youth EP

Label: New Age Records; Year: 1994: Format: 7" 33RPM EP 

Back in the mid '90s I lived for a couple of years in the great city of Toronto, Canada and it must have been in early '97 that my friend Simon of Ugly Pop and I spontaneously decided to take a Greyhound bus to New York City to see the Discocks support the Casualties at Coney Island High in the East Village. Mind you we really didn't care all that much for the spiked band from NYC but were eager to see a Japanese band on North American soil. The fact that the Discocks weren't even the main act tells you a lot about the ignorance in the punk scene as a band flying in from thousands of miles away should really be the main attraction of any night, but that's just my opinion. We certainly had a good night and stayed over at Neil's of Tribal War to catch the Discocks again the next day in New Haven, CT, this time if memory serves me right with The Unseen. What I do remember vividly to this day though is that on the way up to New Haven we stopped at a gas station somewhere in the Queens/Brooklyn area and the Japanese punks and skins stuck out even for a city like New York as they definitely attracted a lot of looks. Funny enough the same year as the above mentioned gig I travelled to Tokyo, Japan and ran into Peter, singer of the Discocks, at the Antiknock Club in Shinjuku when One Way System were playing five shows in the Tokyo area. We had a brief chat after the show and he handed me the flyer that's been stuck in my copy of the band's first release up to this day. Ladies and gentleman, now after boring you to death with my travel stories let me remind myself that there is actually a record to be reviewed here and while preparing for this post tonight I also found out that the Discocks actually have a Wikipedia entry, now that's quite fancy me thinks. The "Voice of Youth" EP having come out in 1994 on the band's own New Age Records (also licensed to UK's Helen Of Oi) is in my opinion their best release by a mile. Their later stuff on Knock Out is okay, but doesn't come even close to this as this record is nothing short of a great effort of youthful UK82 influenced Oi Punk in the great tradition of Blitz, the Partisans or the Ejected to think of a few. My two favorite songs on this EP are "Street of '92" and "Punk and Proud" with a loud bass guitar and great choruses leaving you with no option as to sing along like a maniac. I sometimes wish I could go back in time and relive those days, great memories.