In this edition of Condemned 2 Combat we’ll bring you some of that most elusive sub-sub-genre. Falling somewhere between classic rock and rockabilly, but straightlaced and whiteknuckled to boot, skinhead rock n roll is one of my favorite sounds – even though it’s also one of the hardest to pin down. Or maybe because of it. It’s rock n roll for the bootboys. Let’s rock!
Let’s start it up with a classic. Rock O Rama Records? Check. Release number 88? Check. Have some Rock & Roll Rebels with Sudden Impact‘s 1989 album. Heading a little more into hard rock territory than their previous efforts, but still slow and stompy Oi! Enjoy this slab of good old fashioned white power rock n roll.
And now we’ve got a double dose of motor city madness. From yesterday’s home of rock n roll, here’s two Detroit bands: Rogues and Rival. While mainstream rock was going down the sewer with junkie grunge pop music, in the 90’s these two bands were laying down classic rock style jams and catchy working class hooks. It’s like Dire Straits with a switchblade.
Spanning recordings from 1992 to 2005, Blazin’ Thru The Years compiles a good look at Red Alert‘s career. I put this 2006 compilation record here because you can get a feel for their progression from rowdy charged up rock all the way into the realm of power pop. “Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, verse, chorus, chorus”
This one’s from 1989 and it’s from Sweden. Dirlewanger – Rocking For The Golden Race. This record goes all kinds of wild with 70’s arena rock sounds, rockabilly licks, and Thin Lizzy-meets-Ian Stuart-and-has-a-little-too-much-to-drink-style vocals. Jump on it.
More hard hitting Skinhead Rock ‘n’ Roll :
Total Annihilation – Total War
Brass Tacks – Just The Facts
Now we’re headed down under for some greasy street punk rock n roll. It’s the debut full length from Sydney’s Rust – Lean Mean Street Machine. It’s steel-capped-pogo-tooled-up-Oi! Oi! Aussie Rock & Roll. Crank it!
And now we’ll close it out strong with a couple of EP’s that really hit the bullseye for skinhead rock n roll. First up it’s another band from Oz. Melbourne’s No Class goes hard old school with their first record Boot Boys from 2016. It’s working class pub rock with straight blues rock riffage and a metric ton of grit. When they close out this brief but glorious recording with Blue Collared Rock And Roll – you’ll know what it’s all about- and you’ll shotgun one of those fat Foster’s and smash the can on your head too. (Relax, Aussies, I know y’all don’t really drink that shit.) These guys just go.
Finishing strong I present you with Yesterday, Today and Forever from New York’s Brute Force. This record comes after their classic demo from ’88, and this one features a different singer and a reworked sound. Moving away from the classic US Oi! of their iconic demo, on this release they opt instead for an epic Lynard Skynard-with-a-haircut style that will fucking blow you away. They open it up with the title track which is undisputably the RAC equivalent of Free Bird. And if that wasn’t enough on it’s own, they follow it up with two more tracks that have all the cock rock machismo of AC/DC. It’s 3 tracks of skinhead rock n roll in overdrive. If you don’t know, you ought to. And if you ain’t got, get it.
A few brief notes about the zlog: If you haven’t figureed it out yet all my links are clean. No tiny URL’s, no porn-spam, no “premium user” cloud sites, no crypto donation button, no bullshit. Just quick clean downloads from me to you. Also, I generally try to date the various records I post with the year of the original release and the cover art to match – even though a lot of the actual files are ripped from re-editions and compilation CDs (not 20-30 year old vinyl). And lastly the reason I’m on a dumbass .blog address is because this site is free and I aim to keep it that way. C2C is not monetized in any way (hence no tiny URL’s) and any ads you might see are a byproduct of my refusal to pay anything to make this happen. It’s just skinhead music for skinheads. Fuck the bullshit. Merry Christmas, you filthy animals. Bert Berserk
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