“I think the inspiration has been trying to make an album that sounds like Cock Sparrer, and that’s been quite difficult to do.” –Colin McFaull, Lead Singer for Cock Sparrer-
P’s Take: “Shock Troops” was a good album. Almost (almost) every song had that spirit that made you want to break something. It was very very Oi! type stuff so it was damn far from clever but it was good and Colin’s odd voice was enough to set it apart from the pack kind of.
Now fast-forward 25 years to “Here We Stand”. The album cover is virtually the same as “Shock Troops” only this time they are old, massively out of shape and skinheads. This album lacks any kind of spirit, it didn’t make me wanna break anything so much as it made me wanna lie down for a little bit. Also the song Suicide Girls almost spoiled my appetite for Suicide Girls. Almost.
Just get “Shock Troops”. It was when Cock Sparrer found it easy to make a Cock Sparrer album.
T’s Take: I’ll start with the good. This was originally released by Captain Oi in 2007 and is being re-released now in 2009 by Pirate’s Press Records. And as always Pirate’s Press did an unbelievable job putting this together. Each LP comes with the CD copy and a Making-Of DVD. The vinyl itself comes in a bunch of different colored varieties. The copy we had was West Ham Tricolor to appease all their soccer hooligan fans. The folks at Pirates Press even threw in two coasters made up of cutouts from the vinyl. You really can’t ask for much more in terms of production value. And if you can get past all the bad this will definitely look nice in your collection.
P and I got together on Labor Day weekend in hopes of listening to some new working class anthems by one of the most beloved of 80s Oi! Bands. I had low expectations going in but when P read on the back sleeve that the album was mixed by Lars Frederiksen I got excited, as I thought he did a hell of a job with The Business’s “The Truth The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth” and countless others. However as P noted, “Shock Troops” this wasn’t. And look, it’s tough to even say this because they seem like a real nice bunch of guys as well as a real close-knit group of friends. But I think the above quote by Colin goes to the core of the problem with this album. Cock Sparrer is trying too hard to emulate their past, instead of just moving on and putting out an album that speaks for themselves in the here and now. I commend them on not cashing in on a greatest hits reunion tour and actually trying to do something new. But the problem is it’s not new at all. It’s sorta stale. Not to bring them up again, but at least when The Business came back around in the nineties Micky Fitz embraced what was going on in Hardcore and Street Punk at the time. I don’t even want to go on much more than this because I have too much reverence for this band and what they represent. So I’ll stop right here. But if you’re looking to buy a Cock Sparrer album this probably isn’t it.
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