V/A - NYC Oi! Fest Volume One

United Riot Records

 

Nearly a year ago the first NYC Oi! Fest went down on the 8th and 9th of May in, well, New York City. Spread out over the course of two days a mix of local heroes and bands from throughout America, Europe and Mexico hit the stage, of which a small portion is collected on the first volume of “NYC Oi! Fest”.

 

Prior to this live compilation United Riot Records already released Skinfull’s “The Final Invasion (Live In NYC)”, featuring their last ever set (or at least most of it) from the 8th of May, 2015. Also on this compilation Coventry’s troublemakers are present, but unfortunately both songs on the CD version (“Skinfull” and “Stand Proud, Stand True”) as well as their contribution to the LP version of this compilation (“Skinhead”) were already featured on their final live effort.

 

Besides this difference, the remaining five bands present the same songs on the LP and CD version, with the exception of the fact that the CD contains ten(!) more songs compared to the vinyl. With a total of 23 tracks on the CD, it’s sadly that not even half of the bands who have played the first edition of the festival have made the cut. A missed chance if you ask me, because I was definitely curious to hear some live-rampage by the likes of Sun City Skins and New York City’s own Battle Cry and Oxblood.

 

Besides Skinfull, Criminal Intent and First Strike tend to be my favorites on here. The latter is known for its raw and vicious studio recordings and since the overall sound quality of this live compilation isn’t as top notch as I hoped it would be, their authentic sound comes out best. Therefor it’s a release for die-hards, because 23 raw tracks in total is a long run, even for me. Muna’s artwork is sick as always though.