Hailing from Nuremberg, Germany, Oxymoron kept Oi! kicking in the nineties, alongside a trans-global army of bald n 'spiky bands. Oxymoron - Sucker (vocals), Bjoern (drums), Martin (guitar) and Filzlaus (bass) - employed the fist-in-the-face musical attack of Oi! but wrote lager-swaying, sing-alongs brimming with twists and turns, like a raw version of fellow countrymen Die Toten Hosen. "Bondage" makes non-gratuitous use of ska guitar figures to keep the pace furious and the almost four minute long (that's prog-rock by Oi! standards), "Beware Poisonous" uses gang vocal arrangements that are almost ...gulp...sophisticated.
Download Beware Poisonous 7"
For more great nineties Oi! (a.k.a. Street-punk, UK '82 and Fuck-core*) go to Frequency 7 where Ollie Stench has posted his fist-pumpin' band, the Subversives.
* Okay, I made that one up.
MRML commenters: Can anyone suggest any good Oi! bands from this century? (the title of a strong single would also be welcomed - this genre works best in short, sharp doses.)
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Oxymoron got me back into punk after I had dropped out for a few years. While other bands of the time were attempting to capture the sound and spirit of Riot City most failed miserably and came off as either lightweight pop-punk or just hardcore with spikey jackets. I had lost almost all interest in punk in about 1989. When I hear Oxymoron's "Fuck The 90's" album it made me realize that there were actually some bands out there doing it right.
ReplyDeleteYeah Oxymoron clearly rose above the pack (allusion intended). I'm more of a pop-punk guy (who's always liked Oi!) but Andy O. pushed some good nineties bands like Oxymoron and Limecell on me.
ReplyDeleteDie Localmatadore were another good German band. There was a Norweigan band called Midgard Sonar that were good until I found out they had political beliefs vastly different than mine. Luckily they sang in their native tongue so their "message" was lost on me as I don't understand a word of Norsk.
ReplyDeleteI would suggest Those Unknown and the Dropkick Murphys w/ original singer
ReplyDeleteOllie
ReplyDeleteI'll shall have to check out the former (and possibly neglect the latter even if they are my fellow Scandinavians).
hardison
Good nineties bands, I always liked Those Unknown and that 1st Dropkick Murphys was possibly their best (was never a huge Bruisers fan, so I was a bit disappointed when Al Barr got the vocalist job).