01. Infestation
02. Warriors
03. Pride
04. Fuck LA (Lonesoldier cover)
05. Hated & proud
06. Fight to win
07. Evil has landed (Arresting officers cover)
08. Time for change
09. Benders
10. Voice of freedom
Released by Hostile Class Productions in 2010.
Thanks to Hostile Class Productions for sending it to me back in 2010.
The band is currently in the works of releasing a new record in the form of a 4-song 7'' and with Mongo back from service in Iraq and a new guitarplayer i hope to get some more frequent releases from this band.
I dubbed this the "Best album of 2010" in 2010's Year in review so me celebrating it might not come as a big surprise to those who have been following the site through the years. I love it the few people that have heard it here in Sweden love it and 6 years on since the band started it seems only Americans seem to have a problem with the band. They must since this damn band is one of the most slept on bands of today on their hometurf. The band tours Europe and South America but seem to get very little love from their N-A friends. Most of you yanks i have spoken to have had either of two issues with them (1) the band is to political or (2) the bands lyrics are to cliché. The last reason is quite laughable if you look at the lyrics about working class, drinking, tattooes and "Spirit of 69" being sung by the biggest headlining US acts today. If anything Brassic brings back the violent undertone's of 90's and 80's Oi! that got me into the music in the first place. Shit is just to damn comfortable and candycoated these days so thank good for this album bringing a bootparty and stirring shit up.
Right from the first track Infestation it's easy to understand some might have issues with the bands politics. Infestation tackles the failed integration that exists in many states today and since Brassic hails out of LA it's not hard to understand where they got the inspiration from. Lyrics like "It's a black and white complication/Mixed up culture, mixed up situation/There's not much more i can say or do/We gotta pull together, i'll leave that up to you" shines light on a subject few other bands dare speak of in fear of being branded racists when just highlighting the obvious.
Warriors and Pride are quite simulair in their message. Skinhead anthems like in the old days all done to some of the best R'n'R today. Gotta love the guitars on Warriors.
Hated & proud was one of the last songs to be recorded and shows Brassic doing a bit faster punk. Even though i like their slower R'n'R songs they pass the test and deliver an anti-social and bareboned fightsong.
Fight to win and Voice of Freedom are by far the best songs on the album. The first one reminding me about the sound Brutal Attack had on their first album and the last one delivering an apathetic view on modern democracy with lyrics like "People we elect don't represent shit/They don't care until the're living in it/What of our empire that we gave away?"
Only song i have an issue with on the album is the song Benders. Not because i cant respect other peoples politics or because i dont give a shit whoever anyone else wants to fuck or because one of my sisters is a lesbian. It's just a childish song and as much as i like the rest of the album i have a hard time enjoying this song. A bit to much even for me
This bands lyrics might be punch in the face to some folks but Oi! is not supposed to be nice or fit for radio. It sure as hell aint supposed to cater for one specific political mass and thats why i fucking love Brassic and their stiff middle finger to everything correct and clean within the scene. Hopefully they keep on doing their own thing in the future to and as much as some of you out there will continue to secretly despise them i will keep on supporting one of the few bands worthy of support.
10/10
(i also added the coverart from the LP in the upload)
Or buy it at:
Infestation (live at Live & Loud 2012)
Performing with member from Wrecking Dead on guitar and without Skinner on drums (no he has not gotten fat)
Yank here. I fucking love Brassic. You hit the nail on the head with the violent 90s Oi! description. Everyone's more interested in bland bullshit like Evil Conduct's new record. You literally can't have any politics that aren't left-leaning anymore. The punk-rock police that control the "Oi!" scene here won't allow it. Thanks for re-posting this though, Bernie.
SvaraRaderaGreat band, and these are all cool guys. All kinds of people hate them for stupid reasons, Chaos 88 got mad cuz they didn't let them use their equipment when they played together in OC last year & talked a bunch of shit, and the sharps in LA hate them even more cause they're from their "hood". Last time I hung out with them at a bonecrusher show the little drummer guy knocked a big-ass sharp out cold & the dude had to get carried out. It's a band who plays good Oi! fuck what people think!
SvaraRaderaNo problem with the band (just don't really care about them, haha;-)...) and how the situation in the States is for them I don't know, but that the band did over here shows together with B&H/28 bands like the german band Faustrecht, just as an example, is a fact, and this on concerts that had been organized by folks heavily involved in the german far right movement with close ties to the german extremist right wing party of the NPD is also a fact. And when you play in Germany at a gig done by a german promoter with bands like Faustrecht under the black/white/red flag that's used in the case of promoting and presenting this concerts as THE german flag on flyers, tickets and stage, the black/white/red flag that is in Germany a well-known and often used symbol of the extremist far right, then maybe you shouldn't wonder about some questions being asked... or about folks being pissed off by you since they simply "can't rely to B&H/28 tingle tangle" and this whole intellectually incestuous far right extremist bullshit.
SvaraRaderaAnd so no matter if one might like Brassic or not (the music, the lyrics, the message), it's maybe just the old story that actions speak louder than words... Don't get me wrong, it's all good and fine and for example their Arresting Officers cover is just phenomenal and with some of their lyrics they hit the nail on its head without any doubt (for example I think you can also read "Infestation" as,a general description of and as general statement to what is going in western societies) no matter who may like it or not, but it's just that as far as I can't stand this PC "left wing" idiots talking shit about anyone who does not shares exactly their views on life and society anymore, I also can't stand this "soft-talking" or white washing of deep brown shit anymore... So I don't know these guys and their deep hearted political beliefs, also I don't care about it and also this a thing of my concern, but no one should wonder when they got questioned because of their actions that maybe speak louder and more true than their words... and when you play in Germany on german Rechtsrock concerts than don't wonder when at least some guys out there think that something about this whole "We're just an Oi! band"-thing can't be that correct and true at all in the end... But maybe it's also just me thinking a little bit about it... ;-)
They have played on the same shows as known anti-facist bands over in OC. Are they by that logic an anti-facist band to? I am not saying that the band is not political just saying that i couldnt give two fucks about what "side of the fence" they might end up.
RaderaPt. II: By the way, you're right with this whole cliché lyrics about the spirit of 1969 and such crap... was funny and maybe also justififed back in the days when only a few bands did so, but today it's nothing but a lame and tired cliché used far too often... but or and this definitely not only by U.S. bands. Hm, will also never get it why it's so hip... I mean, when you play in a SKA/(Skinhead) Reggae/(Northern) Soul band, okay, maybe, at least it's some sort of authentic and/or paying tribute to your roots, but this all the time from Oi! and Streetpunk bands... I simply won't ever get it...
SvaraRadera