Punknews.org

|
Sign In | create an account

Various

U.S. Of Oi! Volume 2 (2002)
GMM

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: moldy
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on January 10th 2003

Oi! One of the punk statements that have always represented music for the working class played with speed, heart, and a drunken fuck you attitude. I have always been an Oi fan, whether its sitting around singing drinking songs, and chanting along in the pit with a bunch of punks and skins, there is always that feel of unity and fun that I get when listening to some good Oi. No whiny songs about girlfriends or high school. Not here just fast, energetic tunes with tales from the working class. That’s why I was excited when I saw U.S. Of Oi! Volume 2 in my pile of cds to review. This classic compilation helped launch the second wave of American Oi! By bringing together some of the biggest names in the scene with the new upstarts this comp once again are giving Punk the much needed kick in the ass.

Some of the best songs on this comp included Pist and Broke’s laid back acoustic tune Ireland, which is the singer sings the praises of his mother country and how much he misses being there. The Anti-Heroes, easily one of my favorite Oi bands, serve up the aptly named track Oi!, which is classic Anti-Heroes. Other good songs on here include Pist and Broke Dormunder Union Boys, The lo-fi Oi of The Templars Running Out of Time, Niblick Henbane America, and Those Unknown No Rhyme No Reason. The second to last track on this comp is a rap Can You Dig It by D-Caf and the Ft. Knox Crew, which was about a 180 spin from everything else on here. At first I thought it was a joke, but after I listened to it, I realized that these guys were serious. I don’t really like rap so I usually skipped over this one, but if you like early 90’s gangsta rap then you might like.

Another pause from the mostly uniform sound to this album comes from Oi! the Anonymous doing a spoken word of the Anti-Hereos Heroes and Zeroes, which is a profound statement about the decline in working America with all the factories closing and moving across the boraders. I liked the original song, but I think hearing it spoken makes it resonate much deeper.

If you're looking to get into Oi! this is a good place to start, you get a sampling from some of the best in genre. Turn this one up loud, grab some friends, some booze, and enjoy.

Login to rate this album

Please login or register to post comments.

What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Anonymous (March 27, 2003)

Why bother with oi! crap? Hardcore will always be better. Always.

milo (January 17, 2003)

whatever happened to rating an album? some of you just sit here and make fun of people. i don't give a damn who started punk. I don't care what the Ramones sung about. I care about sitting in my room or my car and listening to the greatest shit ever.
fuck politics cause i know this country is ran by fucking idiots and theres nothing i can do about it.

hail the descendents.

Anonymous (January 14, 2003)

"the only Oi! i like comes from AC/DC"

Call me an elitist for this. I dont care, but you cant argue that AC/DC is not fucking "oi". Its heavy metal at its worst. Fucking idiots.

Anonymous (January 14, 2003)

the only Oi! i like comes from AC/DC.

but emo OI! sounds really fucking punk rock. bring it.

Anonymous (January 13, 2003)

booooo. youre all stupid kill yourselves now. yes even you. ah ah shut up! you too!

Anonymous (January 11, 2003)

haha, emo oi. That's a new one.

Your hair, it's everywhere, Oi! Oi! Oi!
Screaming infidelities, Oi! Oi! Oi!

I bet it's just a more acoustic song though, not emo at all. Me, I like BYO Records' comp more.

Anonymous (January 11, 2003)

"punk for the 15% of the kids here: bad religion, or nofx, or bad religion, or nofx, or bad religion, or nofx. elitist smart punks, or 'don'tgiveafuck punks', or elitist smart punks, or 'don'tgiveafuckpunks'."

I totally agree. I like Bad Religion, but know for a fact that they are overrated. Kids these days just buy their stuff like they're the first punk band. Here is a direct quote for a conversation I had a few weeks back, from the idiot I was talking to. I was telling him that punk started far before 1984, and he was disagreeing:

"i dont like those bands because all they are are a bunch of dead guys who made some songs about the politics in britain and stuff, i think that the real pioneers of punk rock are like bar religion and nofx and stuff"

Not only that, he thinks the Ramones sung about anarchy. But knowing the people who frequent this site, they'll probably agree with him.