A.C.A.B. - The Rest Of...

KB Records

 

First KB Records gave us the best, now they are giving us the rest - the rest of Malaysia’s premiere Oi! band A.C.A.B. that is! Because with “The Rest Of A.C.A.B.” the label collected ten more tracks of boisterous Eastern Oi!, including a slew of tracks that were never released on vinyl before!

 

Now ten songs doesn’t sound like a lot for a compilation and honestly, it isn’t. But you know the saying, sometimes less is more and this might just be the case right here. Because besides a string of ‘b-sides’ (as long as you can speak of b-sides considering all the band’s EP’s were CD’s) - such as “Weeping & Wailing” (a Bad Manners cover), “We’re Coming Back”, the original version of “Streets Of Uptown” and “Racial Hatred II”, this compilation also features a handful of album-tracks like “On Saturdays”, “A.C.A.B” and the glorious “We’re Coming Back” that should have been on the previously released ‘best of’ to begin with!

 

Nothing wrong with the music, but in all honesty - the tracks could have been remastered. I didn’t directly hear it at first, because aside of the “Live & Loud” CD I own every other A.C.A.B. release I have on cassette, but you definitely hear (a lot of) difference when you directly put on another record or CD directly after “The Rest Of A.C.A.B.”. A missed opportunity if you ask me...

 

“The Rest Of A.C.A.B.” comes on either black (50 copies), red (100 copies), white (150 copies) or yellow (200 copies) vinyl and all versions contain a free CD with the same tracklist. Now let’s hope that KB Records can obtain the rights the reissue the albums “Eastern Oi!” and “Skinhead 4 Life” in the West some day as well, because the price on those Malaysian reissues on Edy.J Records are a little too rich for my taste!