Flawless Victory

Flawless Victory is a sxe hardore band from Moscow, Russia. The band started to play in 2007 positively youth crew hardcore. Packed with a huge amount of energy and sincere lyrics they made their first LP in 2008 "Young Hearts" and their final and only EP in 2010 "Freedom" and then splited (similar like Ray). They made songs on russian as well as english, with few covers like sxe revenge (Project X). Because of bands like these i love russian hardcore, bands are filled with energy, sincere lyrics and a growing new scene to take over the world. Enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/flawlessvictorymscxxx

Video:
Flawless Victory - Under Your Truth

Discography:
Young Hearts [2008]
Freedom EP [2010]

Anti-Establishment

Reading the Skinhead Bible and the bands mentioned here i got flashbacks of some old memories and the music I loved. As i was oppsessed with british Oi! i got a pretty good background of the "old" bands, the first one to describe the sound of the streets and the rebirth of the skinhead youth. Aggro, football and being raised on the streets is what Oi! was about. Anti-Establishment was one of those Oi! breed bands. They were formed in 1978 under the influence od The Damned, Pistols, the Ruts. Played about 20-25 gigs with bands like Infa Riot, Last Resort and were never interested in politics. Shame that the cult went down like that being associated with right wing politics. Anyway they faded away in the early 80's like some other Oi! bands did. The band made a cover of Animals The House of rising sun. I'm bringin' you their Oi! collection which sums up their discography. Enjoy pure Oi! as it was once upon a time.

http://www.myspace.com/antiestablishmentuk

Video:
Anti Establishment - Future Girl

Discography:
Oi! Collection

Anti-Establishment

Menace

Time to get back in the past, the punk past and my past when things were much simple and music was more sincere. I think don't need to introduce this band, their legacy is enough but let's make a short story about their music. The Menace are a punk\Oi! band straight out of London, England. They were formed in 1976 when 4 school friends decided to make their way in punk history. Their music was a refreshing punch in the face for punk, it was not a project for music industries like The Sex Pistols, or Clash big concerts, so they never were signed in a big label company. They were pure working class kids growing up, so the record compaines weren't interested in their music. The band splited in 1979 but they still made a huge impact on other punk bands. Playing Roxy's a, then they made a lot of singles in that period, and reformed again in 1997 and still playing bigger shows. They even made an album covering some of their old stuff and some new songs in 2001. but that's not near the old Menace. Anyway they are also know as one of the forefathers of Oi! music along with Cock Sparrer, Sham 69, Slaughter and the Dogs, as their concerts were a real mixture of skinheads and punks. Lyricly they are dealing with more punk than Oi! messages, against the society, rebellion and growing up. One more thing, they covered the classic Ruts song "Babylons Burning". Enjoy the singles and i will put the new album for the curious ones.

http://www.myspace.com/menacelondon

Video:
Menace - Insane Society

Discography:
Punk Singles Collection
Crisis [2001]

Glasses

Glasses are a hardcore band from Germany. Female fronted band made up out of ex members of Perth Express, the 244 Gl, The F.A. and Trainwreck/Eaves. Formed in 2008 with a first show and a release that came out next year, their ST. Followed by a Split with Comadre and an album "The Ills of Life" in 2010. Still touring hard and doing shows in your neighbourhood . Enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/glasseshc

Video:
Glasses - Your Terms

Discography:
ST [2009]
The Ills of Life [2010]
Comadre & Glasses Split [2010]

Powder Keg

I don't usually post VA compilations, but i came across a very interesting one just recently. This is a compilation of the serbian records HA-KO Bastards. A compilation of active (in 2008) balkan (croatia, serbia, macedonia and slovenia) hardcore bands. Everybody is talking about supporting the scene so here it is, a little publicity (and they deserve it) for Let's Grow, Vaseline Children, FxPxOx, Final Approach and others.

Powder Keg (2008)

100 Men

One hundred men is a skinhead reggae band from northern UK. Formed in 1989. by ex members of Skin Deep. Don't know much about the band only that they faded away after 1993 and were more a live band than a studio recording one. They were one of the first revival skinhead reggae bands from the late 80's that dragged the sound from trojan reggae in the 60's ska sound. The band vocal later went to Babyshambles which covered the 100 Men song "I Wish". Too underrated and really a gem from those times, enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/uk100men

Video:
One Hundred Men - Yeah Yeah Girl

Discography:
Released & Unreleased [1990]

Ofisboyz

While i'm still in an Oi! mode. I'm bringin' you this time something exotic. The Ofisboyz are a Istanbul, Turkey Oi!\Streetcore band. The band was formed in 2003 and were one of the first skinhead bands in Turkey. Also one of the first turkish bands that toured outside their land. Made a split "Meet the boys" with their good friends Forbidden Kings. Made one demo, and only one LP "Bosphorus Pride" that came out remastered in 2009. The band lyrics are dealing antifascism, street justice and football passion (Besiktas fans).

http://www.myspace.com/ofisboyz

Video:
Ofisboyz - Not gonna change

Discography:
Demo
Bosphorus Pride [2009]

Redskins

The Redskins. Well this band for sure isn't a typical ska band. I tagged them that way beacause the best way to describe them is soul (soul music more specificly northern soul mixed with ska in Britain 60's skinhead youth and they have some similar elements) with rockabilly influence and punk rock, also with their skinhead image and music played known as Oi!. The band was formed in York, England in 1980 from the ashes of their former group No Swastikas. Their songs are catchy and very danceable with marxist and left wing politics lyrics. Their first began recording under the name The Redskins in 1982 with lots od singles and EP's that i have no intention to write them all down. So their first compilation LP record was in 1986 when they disbanded under the name "Neither Washington nor Moscow". After that the band as i said fell apart going their own separate ways, but they still made some reunion concert in 1988 Paris ( not full lineup) and in uk 1995 (which i will upload for you). In 2010 was issued the "Epilogue" from their CNT singles and No Swastikas songs. The Redskins also made some trubutes to the Clash and 16 Tons (the coal workers song) of a country singer Merle Travis. The band made a huge impact on the redskin movement, as they were probably (not sure if my sources are correct) the first band under that kind of provocative name in those years when the AFA wasn't big. Their lyrics also made a huge impact because it introduced the working class leftist\socialist ideals to the skinheads. The songs dealt revolution, anti-capitalism and the emancipation of the working class masses themes. Bands all over the world not only Oi! but rockabilly and punk made a Tribute album "Reds Strike The Blues" for all the legacy that the Redskins made.
And this is also my little tribute i could give to their name. Redskins will kick those fuckin' statues and yes It can be done you just gotta keep on keepin' on.

http://www.redskins.co.uk/

Video:
Redskins - Keep On Keepin' On

Discography:
Neither Washington nor Moscow [1986]
Singles 1
Singles 2
Rarities
Epilogue [2010]
The Redskins (uk) 1995 Live

Los Foiros

Los Foiros is an Oi! band from Aquitaine, France. They are and RASH band that started in the mid 00's. They have released only one LP "ST" in 2007, and they made an appearence on a french Class Pride compilation "Appel Aux Luttes" with  other french antifacist bands like Redweiler, Tulamort,  Jeune Seigneur and others. Don't know if the band is still active, haven't heard anything new from them in a while.

 http://www.myspace.com/losfoiros

Video:
Los Foiros - Ballade des redbones

Discography:
ST [2007]

Bandera negra 14.05.

We started our trip in the morning, some of us still a little drunk and under the influence of the gig in Zagreb that was last night. The destination was Reggio Emilia. A small town in the northen central Italy, near Modena. The Opcio guys were in town with 3 more good italian Oi! bands ENCB, FFD and Trade Unions and we decided to pay them a visit.
The trip didn't last long. For about 6 hours of driving and we were there with no big complications of finding the town and the place. As we arrived there at about half past 6, there were some locals fixig the "squat" for the gig. After the beer and food shopping, there was something very different than the usual gigs. The Italians were so friendly that they immediately came to us and started conversations, so we felt a very positive atmosphere talking with them about their and our scene and chating about all kind of stuff that would come to our minds. Usually i would not talk about this, but waiting for the gig we could not notice the female part of the subculture that were a real pleasure for the eyes. Too bad we don't have skingirls that much in Croatia, but slowly we are growing also.
We got some zine, with a interview of Stage Bottles and Undertones, but unfortunetly it is in Italian. When we entered the yard of the "squat" we looked at some distribution. It was full of great records of EP's, LP's and shirts, but we didn't had much money to spent on it. Even found some of our eastern friends records (Red Union and the Bayonets). Eventually a friend got me an EP vinyl of Brixton Cats Opcio k-95 split as i was broke. After a lot of beers, we saw the Opcio singer Carlos and decided to push our luck. He was very friendly so we spent the rest of our evening drinking with him even though he didnn't drink (sxe). He is a history professor and wrote some books about the football supporters and ultras so we talked also a lot about football besides the Spanish bands and politics. While FFD was playing (don't like the band to much so didn't see the point in watching them), we talked to the guys uf they would come to Croatia. I think that we made a pretty good impression on them especially on the drummer and singer, so we could try to do what seemed impossible. Bringin' them to our country.
Some of us entered when Ennecibbi started to play. When i saw the inside of the club, the first thing I noticed was the stage.  It was fairly big, and i didn't liked it because of the poor connection of the bands and the crowd. It have an opinion that a better atmosphere would be on a smaller stage, but ok, to much hardcore inflence these days. Ennecibbi played real good. It was a shame that there were few people in front, nothing like the Turin gig, but still they made a good show. ENCB are doing few more gigs and taking a bigger "break", as their bass player is going to jail, beacuse of a violent fight with the fascists.
The third band were Trade Unions, an Livorno red oi! band. They made a new album but it still isn't available on the net.But still i recognised the old songs and they were good on the stage. One thing i noticed, maybe it's a "crisis identity" deformation, but Italian oi music, especially the aggressive ones, are slighty taking some elements of hardcore. Because of the singer, he was jumping all the time. I also noticed this from the ENCB singer. Maybe it's some sort of saturation and trying to take some new elements to make the music more inovative or a fusion taking some elements, or my lousy judgement.
When Opcio came to the stage the eruption started. But again not a lot of people at the front, at least we could enjoy the band more from a close perspective. They started with the new album Reneix, playing at first mostly new songs, and then went on Terra Cremada. I prefer Mai Morirem but i won't bother because of the bands playlist. At the near end i went outside to take more beers and never returned as i have a blank gap in my memory. But my guys told me that i missed out the flare and the fire extinguisher that ended the concert. Besides their songs they played a few covers (don't know why, because they have enough of their own great songs to play) Banned from the pubs, White Riot...
After sleeping a few ours in the car, we closed a great evening in Reggio Emilia and went back home.
A really good show this was, not only because of the bands and music but because of the whole trip and conversations with the Italians and Opcio. Reggio Emilia and Opcio, thumbs up and see you soon.
(PS: i know that my english is lousy, almost lousy as the construction of these sentences i wrote day after the gig, but i have no intention of rewriting!)

Verse

Verse was a hardcore band from Providence, USA. The band started as a side project in 2002 with their first release an "Four Songs" EP, that was a prerecord for their first LP in 2005 "Rebuild". Rebuild is actually my favourite record from Verse, because of it's fast and direct songs. After "Rebuild" they recorded the second LP "From anger and rage" which was a definite breakthrough for them, as they did a lot of tours in Europe and US with bands like Have Heart, Down to nothing, Crime in Stereo... The band then signed to Bridge 9 and in 2008 did their final album (for most people their best) "Aggression". The band broke up in 2009, according to the story, when their bassist "broke edge", and they decided not to play anymore. Their last show was on May 21-23, 2009 in their hometown.

http://www.myspace.com/verse

Video:
Verse - Tear Down These Walls + Hard To Breathe

Discography:
Four Songs EP [2002]
Rebuild [2005]
From anger and rage [2006]
Aggression [2008]

Miles Away

Miles Away are a hardcore band from Perth, Australia. Well the band started in 2002. They wanted to make an impact on the kids playing a new style of hardcore influenced by mid to late 90's positive hardcore like Floorpunch, Ten Yard Fight, In My Eyes etc and certainly oldschool hardcore (Descendents cover). And the band sure did! From the first show 2003 they put Australia on the hardcore map. Their first albums sounded more "light" (don't know what word i would use) and innocent, but it was definitely a punch in the face sincere hardcore. After the years passed by, the songs matured and their music. They showed that with their newest album which is a masterpiece in my opinion (usually i see bands that made excellent albums in their early career and then lost their touch, but this is one of those rare bands that have proven me wrong judging by the latest record, we'll see what the future holds). The records went like this: 2003 - "Armed With Hope" demo, 2004 "Make it Count" EP,  in 2005 their "ST" LP, 2006 an EP "Brainwashed" and a LP "Consequences", then in 2007 "Rewind, Repeat..." and finally in 2010 an EP "Memory Embraced" before the LP "Endless Roads". The band did numerous gigs and tours arond Aussie and the rest of the world and confirmed their place in hardcore music. Can't wait till they do a show somewhere near Croatia, to see these guys live.
PS: i don't have the EP "Make it Count" so you'll have to be satisfied by this (or share a link :)).

http://www.myspace.com/milesawayhc

Video:
Miles Away - Anywhere

Discography:
Armed With Hope (Demo '03)
ST [2005]
Brainwashed EP [2006]
Consequences [2006]
Rewind, Repeat...[2007]
Memory Embraced EP [2010]
Endless Roads [2010]