[Update : June 18 : The gig as a whole has since been CANCELLED.]
On Friday June 22, Sydney-based hardcore/punk label Snapshot Records is organising a gig by some of its bands. They are:
On Friday July 6, CMYK Love, Hey, That’s My Bike and The Dank are performing.
In addition to releasing albums, Snapshot Records also sells music by the sea shore, including, notably, neo-Nazi muzak, by the likes of Blood Red Eagle (AUS), Bound For Glory (UK not US), Fortress (AUS), Legion of St. George* (UK), Retaliator (UK), Skrewdriver (UK) and the incomparable Southern Storm (“Niggers, Jews and Communists / Look out scum, you’re on our list!”). This renders Snapshot, along with Melbourne-based Deadset Music and Sydney-based Scythian Services, among the most prominent of RAC online distros Down Under.
- Deadshit Muzak stocks an even larger range of fascist / neo-Nazi / RAC and white power music, including but not limited to Antagon, Battle Scarred, Condemned 84, Combat 84, Crashed Out, D.A., Get Out, The Gits, Hateful, Kampfzone, Knockdown, Marching On, Retaliator, Tattooed Motherfuckers and Unit Lost.
Well, that’s Sydney hardcore for you. What’s especially odd about Jay’s flogging fascist shit, however, is Snapshot’s claimed affiliation to Class War(!). And while I kinda doubt Darren has experienced a radical shift in his politics, the London-based group makes its opinion regarding Blood & Honour and other such filth very clear, I think, by including the image below on their site. And a picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case, just eight: ‘Someone forgot, I’m one of the ‘master-race’.
*The original Legion of St. George, later known as the British Free Corps (Britisches Freikorps), was formed by the German SS from several dozen British POW volunteers in 1943, and was as successful as it was appealing, disbanding not long after. The inspiration for the unit came from an upper class twit called John Amery, who was hanged for treason after the war ended. Oddly enough, the only British officer to have joined the Corps, Douglas Berneville-Claye, pissed off to Australia at its conclusion, joining hundreds of other former Nazis in Pig Iron Bob‘s safe-haven in the Pacific. Speaking of which, one of the accused, Perth resident Charles Zentai, 84, who allegedly tortured and murdered a Jewish teenager in Budapest, is one step closer to Hungary after having had his appeal against an extradition order dismissed in court on May 29 (‘Alleged Hungarian war criminal moving closer to extradition from Australia’, The Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, May 30, 2007). And while many Nazis were warmly welcomed to this Great Southern Land, many anti-fascists were not so fortunate. Among them was the Italian anarchist Francesco Fantin (1901–1942). He was assassinated by Fascists inside Loveday prison camp in South Australia on November 16, 1942.
…Too late is understood all the evil which fascism, squadrists of a hundred armed men against one, was doing, that immense decimation within that native land, step-mother who denies bread and liberty to her children.
That decimation which they have continued in the country-sides of other people who were friends.
How many huge herds of corpses today are stretched under the light shelter of the red earth.
And what if all these dead were no more than a first installment of the universal destruction, they go on to kill and be killed.
I ask myself! What is the bottom of the wicked nature of these dictators?
Patched and bastard stuff, unstable and, passing leaves, ill-come abortions who lie down in evil as a suckling child involved in his urine, as a drunkard falling senseless in his own vomit, as one ulcerous lying in his pus.
When one says fascism one says horror, its crimes are known. Its infamies do not allow of attenuation. It is a tyranny which tries not without success in many parts of the world — to annul the civilised conquests which were attained during centuries of struggles and of progress in order to push back the human race into a state of shameful barbarism…
~ Francesco Fantin, Pensieri a Ricordi, Loveday Camp, Barmera, 1942.
I think the difficulty about labelling a band nazi by the music labels and distros they use is problematic simply because of the misunderstanding left wing anti fascists have about so [many] Oi bands. Most of the non right-wing bands that use these distros couldn t give a shit about politics of either side, they have no interest or concern about what else they stock. It may be wrong of them to think in such a way but again they just could [not] care less what anyone else thinks. The main misconception of anti fascists is if an apolitical band emerge if they re not anti they must be pro. But apolitical means just that they couldn t give a rats ass about politics. If a distro offers them a deal they ll take it regardless of the rest of the stock held by them. One skinhead I spoke to about this a few years back asked if I d be bothered about the political beliefs of Iron Maiden if I bought their album, when I answered no he said it s the same for a lot of the fans/bands in the skinhead scene, personal politics weren t important it was all about drinking and having a laugh and that a lot of skins were weary of politics of either side as it had almost killed the whole thing before. I am personally anti fascist but thought this may add something to the are they aren t they discussions.
Condemned 84 and Crashed Out aren t right wingers but they have made some stupid choices over the years, as have we all.
Take care…
Hola Blake the wonder horse,
As I see it:
The fact that some bands, who claim to be ‘apolitical’, choose to release music via fascist labels, is, at the very least, a questionable practice. Note that while doing so does not constitute definitive proof of the ‘real’ political commitments of a band, it does suggest where their sympathies lie. As for distros, that’s a bit more complicated. Bands are certainly at liberty to choose a preferred distro (tho’ the label for which they record presumably already mandates that option) but, generally speaking, anyone is free to distribute whatever product they see fit — it’s just a matter of gaining access to it. (Such is the case with local distro Deadset Music, Oi Polloi and The Oppressed.)
I agree with you that there are a number of bands who express the view that they don’t care about ‘politics’; a position which is hardly unique to oi!, and one which may be found throughout the music industry (and the broader society). Putting to one side the question of ‘what is politics?’ — and whether or not it’s even possible to exclude oneself from the rest of the world and what happens in it — by signing to a fascist label, bands are already implicating themselves in its propagation. That is, they are engaged in ‘politics’.
Whether or not bands ‘care’ about this is beside the point, for a number of reasons. One of these has to do with economics. A band that makes money for a fascist label is a band that makes money for a fascist label, whether it’s singing about the glories of the Third Reich, beer, or both. As such, an ‘apolitical’ band on a fascist label is being used as a vehicle to help propagate fascist views, organisations and practices.
Another reason it’s immaterial whether or not an ostensibly ‘apolitical’ band cares that it records for a fascist label is that by including such material in its catalogue a label can try to obscure its political commitments. Pure Impact in Belgium is a classic example of this. Thus — at least for those who don’t enquire too deeply or think too hard — Pure Impact, while it may distro ‘some’ neo-Nazi / fascist propaganda, is nominally ‘apolitical’. And in a market in which ‘politics’ is often taken a lot more seriously than, say, on the pages of Smash Hits, this is an advantage.
As for the supposed “misunderstanding left wing anti fascists have about so [many] Oi bands”, that may be so, but I personally have been listening to this kind of music for around 20 years or so, and as a result, while I’m no expert, I’m reasonably well aware of its history. I’m also aware that it often purports to be a ‘working class’ genre and/or from ‘the streets’.
But what does this actually mean?
For some, it’s simply a marketing gimmick. For others, it means something more substantial.
As for skins being tired of politics, I think Roddy hit the nail on the head:
“…Don’t listen to all the shit about splits and politics, the Boneheads go on about it because they know how we drove them underground and reclaimed Skinhead culture for true Skinheads. The non-politicals go on [and on and on] about it because it’s easier than taking on the scum. I’ve been a Skinhead since 1969 and I know what it’s meant since day one.” — Roddy Moreno, The Oppressed
In other words, if people who like oi! music, who value skinhead culture and who respect its history and origins ignore the problem of fascist infiltration, the fascists have won. Further, the extent to which ‘skinhead’ is taken to mean ‘racist wanker’ in popular culture — while not uniform, unopposed, or solely attributable to the inability or unwillingness of skinheads to defend their subculture from political recuperation by fascists and neo-Nazis — is, to some degree, a reflection of the extent to which such ‘apolitical’ attitudes have taken root.
Cheers,
@ndy.
Hi @ndy,
I agree with most if not all of what you said, but a lot of apolitical Skins don t like Roddy much anyway blaming him for dividing the scene (not me you understand The Oppressed were the first Oi band I heard all those years ago). And the one problem within the current scene over here (UK) is many skins are right wing (not extreme right, but right wing leaning) in their views on things and don t trust or even hate the left wing types involved with SHARP, Antifa etc. So ridding the B&H, BNP types from the scene is going to be a real uphill struggle.
I agree with you about Pure Impact. I nearly bought a Retaliator album on that label a while back after a mate recommended them but the first thing that came up on their home page was a mass of Skrewdriver badges/patches/T shirts so I didn t buy.
One thing that s always confused me is the appeal of Skrewdriver. The bits I ve heard regardless of the politics have been fucking awful — sounded like a pissed up tramp scramming while the band threw their gear down the stairs. Give me The Oppressed any day.
Does anyone know anything about Oi band Pressure 28? Are they dodgy? Does the 28 stand for Blood & Honour? They’ve released or are releasing stuff on Hammer Records, any info would be of help.
check out how many nazi tossers are alllowed to set up camp on this site just so long as they do it quietly
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