Hard Skin
It's a busy week down at the Owl Sanctuary. Every night there seems to be something worth spending your hard earned on, and Tuesday night was no exception with legendary UK Oi band Hard Skin playing. Luckily none of this week's gigs cost an arm or indeed a leg, so despite it being muggy as fuck, and bearing in mind that it was still early in a week which also has upcoming shows from War on Women, Millions Of Dead Cops, and The Dickies, there was still a decent turn out of people to get involved in the four-band fun for this evening.
Fair Do's were first on the bill with an impressively polished set. Their sound is a blend of fast guitar riffs interspersed with pockets of unexpected technical brilliance, played over some damn fine heavy drumming and topped with strong, melodic vocals. The result is pretty special, with a tight sound and songs that rewarded me with more than I initially expected. I liked them a lot.
Next up was something completely different from Midnight Parasite. And by completely different, I mean time for some filthy punk-metal chaos. Grinding, intense, and raw, they smashed through an unrelenting set that took no prisoners, whilst still avoiding clichéd "extreme music" tactics like relying on blastbeats to smash your audience's faces in. They'd clearly thought about it a bit more than that. Not sure they were for everyone, but then I'm pretty sure that's the point, and Dan from the Owl confessed to me later in the evening that they may just be his new favourite Norwich band. High praise indeed.
Third up were Aussie skate punks The Decline. These guys sound like the best parts of the mid-nineties, but whilst they wear their influences on their sleeves, they do it with a freshness that avoids pastiche. I love bands that make you forget that you're at a gig, and make it feel like you're at a party instead, and that's how I felt watching The Decline. And jealous of their hair.
Finally, there's still time for a good hour of Hard Skin. For those who crave context, the band formed in 1996 and took the best bits of the Oi scene (the music), and then proceeded to boldly rip the shit out of the rest (the racism, homophobia, etc). Don't think of them as a parody act however, like some sort of postmodern skinhead Spinal Tap lurking in the background. Just the opposite. They called that part of the scene a cunt - right to its angry red face - and got away with it, because, well, they're that good.
And they still are that good, and they still like calling people cunts to their faces, which is exactly what we were all there for. An hour of swearing about the police, shouting about the Tories, and, er, calling ourselves a bunch of fucking wankers flew by. The songs sounded great, which is what happens when you play them for twenty years but is nevertheless impressive, and the band gave the crowd what they wanted - a fucking good night, with a bit of the piss ripped out of them at the same time. Loud and fast, funny but still inciting, it was great to see Hard Skin still standing up for having a good time as much as they stand for everything else. If you weren't there, you missed out, you faaaaaking mug! Brilliant.
