Old School Pride

Shout out to Josh. This one’s for you!

Condemned 2 Combat // Volume 22.5 // Mini – Edition

Joshua Adams writes: How come it’s near impossible to find info or buy either album from Youngblood? Weren’t they a pioneering California oi! band?

Was Youngblood a pioneer California Oi! band? Absolutely. Why is it impossible to find info or merchandise? Probably the same reason that’s the situation with almost all real Oi! or RAC. Oddly enough, with Youngblood, they weren’t really all that rightwing/politically incorrect in their music, but they’re officially blacklisted nonetheless. Perhaps that’s due to their early association with classic RAC acts and labelmates like Skrewdriver, Arresting Officers, Brutal Attack, New Glory, White Noise, etc. etc. (See the 1989 Boot Boys single on Street Rock N Roll Records.) I assume you’re referring to their first two albums – Final War, originally released by the infamous Rock-O-Rama Records (which I’ll also assume you’re familiar with) and What We Fight For, released by the very short lived Old Guard Records. After those two records there was also Old School Pride on Rebel Records and Patriotic Force on Strong Survive Records, both from 2010. It seems they had some resurgent popularity in Germany and elsewhere in Europe around that time, most likely due to their album being released by the German label Rebel Records. Here’s an interview and an album review from a couple of webzines from the old days. As for putting your paws on some records (the revived) Rock-O-Rama is still in operation, and they have some version of Final War on CD. And Rebel Records is very much in business and carrying both Old School Pride on vinyl and Patriotic Force on CD, as well as some Youngblood T shirts. In the meantime I’ve been Taking Care of Business. So grab these tunes for free and rock on with a little old school pride.

21 Years: Heritage and Honor // Blood Sacrifice Productions // 2010

A compilation of Youngblood’s first two albums, Final War (1988) and What We Fight For (2005), minus the two tracks Richard Cory and American Heritage, plus four bonus tracks. Here you’ll find the rough tough, bare bones, early US Oi! sound the band was known for, along with covers of 999, Combat 84, Elvis Hitler, and an astounding Bachman Turner Overdrive jam.

Old School Pride // Rebel Records // 2010

A little bit more mature and polished version of the Youngblood sound but lacking none of the grit. The title track speaks for itself.

Patriotic Force // Strong Survive Records // 2010

A mini-album or EP which saw the band deliver a slightly different sound. When you first hear those keyboards you’ll think “What the fuck is this?” But the songs will soon be stuck in your head. Then they do a bit of unplugged Oi! ballads on the last three tracks. Don’t ignore this one.