Oi! to the world

>> Skins and punks unite for the Shock Troops reunion

By RUPERT BOTTENBERG

"We never did a farewell show, so this is a sort of reunion/farewell, unless we do a ten-year anniversary," says Fred, singer of technically-defunct local oi band Shock Troops. "Me and Xavier (of Banlieue Rouge) started the band in '95, but now he's got a house on the South Shore, a kid and a job that takes up 60 hours a week."

So much for real life. No regrets on Fred's part, though. He's busy with his other band, the more punk-oriented Generatorz, and quite proud of Shock Troops' '97 CD Fun & Fury, which balances anthemic skinhead oi with Clash-y punk, rockabilly runs and even a creepy, heavy-duty surf number. "Some of the critics in the States were like, 'What's up with the skinheads in Montreal? They surf?!' But we never wanted to do basic '80s oi. It's been done. We've got a lot of influences--some of the songs are almost poppy," Fred says sheepishly.

Funny thing is, despite its surly demeanour, oi (as best represented by bands like the Business and Sham 69) was always arguably more accessible then the temper-tantrums-with-a-backbeat of a good deal of punk rock. "It's simple, catchy, easy to sing along to when you're drunk. Oi's always been very melodic. That's what drew me to it in the first place."

One thing that was always important to Shock Troops was defusing tensions between skins and punks, traditionally at each other like cats and dogs. "We always tried to get the scene united. Leave everything else behind and just come together at shows to have fun. That was also at the time of the punk/skin nights at Loonies. It's not a problem until it's 3 a.m. and everyone's drunk and someone's just looking for a fight. Sometimes it happens--just goofiness. Two people get in a fight and it gets labelled as a skin/punk thing. The next day everyone's talking and buying each other drinks."

Of course, regular folks might not see it that way, particularly given that skinheads are a magnet for alarmist media hype. But Fred holds out hope. "I think it's evolving. Look at the States. Epitaph's releasing a lot of oi and street punk stuff on their Hellcat sub-label, like Dropkick Murphys and Rancid, and it's selling well. I think the skinhead movement today is a lot less thuggish, unlike the early '80s--lots of mindless violence and stupid things like that. People involved in the scene now want to see it evolve. It's a movement that comes from the street, but it doesn't have to be mindless and stupid." The public, Fred notes, is noticing. "It's changing for sure--just walking down the street, we don't get as many stares as we used to."

Shock Troops' one-off reunion is the highlight of the first of two nights of the Montreal Oi! Fest--a first, this fest. Night two sees Italy's Klasse Kriminale front and centre, their only North American date. "They'll have a good time in Montreal--from what I've seen in other cities, there's a lot less bullshit here. In NYC, you've got the Brooklyn skins and the Lower East Side skins and everyone hates everyone else. Montreal's more of a small town, so we all know each other. We don't ghettoize." :

Montreal Oi! Fest at Jailhouse Rock on Friday, March 17 (Shock Troops, King-size Braces and Riot 99, $9) and Saturday, March 18 (Klasse Kriminale, Generatorz, Prowlers, $10)