Category: Music

Where the Boot Boys Went: Wayne Barrett talks skins, punk, glam and Slaughter and the Dogs

This interview feels special to me on several counts. First, I caught up with Wayne Barrett during what he says is his farewell tour under the Slaughter and the Dogs banner, closing exactly 50 years of this seminal punk outfit’s history. Second, Wayne chose to play the band’s final dates in my adopted homeland, Italy – a country he feels a special connection to (the band’s last album even bore an Italian title).

Third, it’s December, and with my birthday approaching, I’m reminded of the gift I received on my fifteenth: a record called Punk – A World History Vol. 3, which ranks high among the albums that shaped my taste in music. Part of a dodgy bootleg compilation series, it introduced me to a handful of ‘second-tier’ – but actually more enjoyable – figures of the original punk wave, such as The Boys, Chelsea, and of course Slaughter and the Dogs, who remain among my all-time favourites. Sitting somewhere at the intersection of bootboy, glam and punk, they were in some ways the perfect band.

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Running with the boss sound: Billy Idol and the skinheads

I never thought we’d end up mentioning Billy Idol on Creases Like Knives, but here we are – he references skinheads on his new single ‘Still Dancing’, released a couple of weeks ago. The third verse goes:

Skinheads stomp
Right down the road
Teddy Boys stood
Clutching their combs
Reggae blitz rock
Deep to the core
In Brixton
Punks trying to riot
Up on the high street
Causing a ruckus
Who wants to fight me?
Pogo slam
No need to remind me

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Dirty Job, Klasse Kriminale, Kryzys and others: record reviews

Before the year draws to an end, let me squeeze in just a few reviews, mostly of records that people have sent or handed me in recent months. We’re still in no danger of ever becoming a ‘professional’ publication – as always, some of these good folks have been waiting for months to get their stuff reviewed. I hope they still appreciate the thoroughness and sincerity I’ve tried to put into these write-ups. Many thanks to Timebomb Records, Un Vie Pour Rien, Hellnation, Magura, Golpe de Gracia, and Manufaktura Legenda! All reviews by me this time.
Matt Crombieboy

Dirty Job: The World’s Decay LP
(Timebomb Records / Hellnation / Subculture for Life)

One thing straight away: this is my favourite Oi album of 2024, and it hit me somewhat by surprise – even though I’ve been following the band’s activities from quite early on. Formed in the Milan area by members of bands such as Ostile and, formerly, Brutti e Ignoranti and Stanley, they first landed in my adopted hometown of Bologna in February 2023, playing at the Forever Ultras’ clubhouse. They immediately stood out from the majority of young Italian Oi bands by maintaining a certain skinhead orthodoxy, both in sound and appearance, rather than dissolving it into ‘ultras rock ’n’ roll’ or coming off as just ‘random tattooed dudes playing street rock’. The music struck me as harder than most of their peers – not faster or heavier, but harder – and disciplined to the point of feeling almost a little militaristic. Ancient ‘war Oi’ like Vengeance sprung to mind.

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The Price of Integrity, or: Rip Off’s Road from Bologna to Certaldo, 1980–83

Rip Off from Bologna are mainly known for one fateful event today: their performance at the Certaldo Oi festival in 1983, which became notorious as the ‘Italian Southall’. Vocalist Rozzi delivered a speech threatening to “hang the punks and the communists”, while two members of Rip Off’s crew stood on stage giving fascist salutes. All hell broke loose in the crowd. The whole night turned into one continuous mass brawl, and in the aftermath, Oi bands in Italy struggled to get gigs for years.

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Strength thru Concrete: The Foundations of Béton Armé

If you haven’t heard Béton Armé yet, you’re really missing out. I may be late to the party, but I’m fully on board now. Their sound combines melodic, classic Oi with prime Chaos en France-style vocals and the odd dash of hardcore. Everything stripped down to the essentials – a wall of sound like huge slabs of… well, reinforced concrete, which is what the band’s name means. Big singalong choruses and that raw, lo-fi sound we all crave. I saw them at Beach, Beer, Chaos in Badalona this year, and they absolutely floored me. Curious to know more, I sent a few questions to Oli (guitar) and Dan (vocals), and they didn’t disappoint.

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Tremende times: the gritty ska grooves of Bologna

Creases Like Knives presents itself as a webzine dedicated to “reggae, punk, Oi, hardcore, soul, clobber, style” and “strong views” (that’s our description on X). But since the founder mainly listens to Oi, punk and glam/bovver rock, the articles tend to revolve around those genres. I figured it was about time to make space for other things as well. And what better way to start than with Tremende, one of Italy’s longest-standing ska bands, active since 1989, based in Bologna, and almost entirely female? Matt and I met up with their vocalist Antonella, who was more than happy to chat, at Serena 80, a club with a football ground and rehearsal space. Later on, the rest of the band joined us, and we got to watch some of their rehearsal.

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Take A Razor To Your Head: The Crazed

Here at Creases, we’re not afraid to dip a toe into other subcultures if the influences (and MA1s) fit. Last year one-time teenage Psychobilly Paul Wainwright published a book version of his at-the-time zine The Crazed, which carried interviews with the likes of The Meteors, Demented Are Go and Skitzo. The book itself, The Resurrection of The Crazed (Earth Island Books), is an altogether deeper dive into the subculture once referred to (by a compilation of the era) as The James Deans of the Dole Queue. Andrew Stevens dug out his dictaphone and recorded this with the author over a snakebite or several to hear more about stomping at the Klub Foot.

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Nabat, Force Majeure, Asedio and others: Record Reviews

Been a while since you heard from us, hasn’t it? Last December, we celebrated what had been an exceptionally productive year for Creases Like Knives. Then, as if to undermine any hopes we’d become a ‘proper’, ‘professional’, or regular publication, we only gave you one article in the whole first four months of 2024. The truth is precisely this: we aren’t professionals, nobody’s paying us, and we just happened to have lots on our plate lately. One thing’s for sure: Creases Like Knives isn’t ceasing operations – I think in some form we’ll always be around. But our levels of activity will vary, depending on what else life throws at us. In this sense, apologies to the good folks from Common People, Primator Crew, Une Vie Pour Rien, Hellnation and Ballroom Blitz Records who sent us most of the albums reviewed here – we made some of them wait for ages. All reviews by me this time.
Matt Crombieboy

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Classic Albums: ‘This Is England’ by Red London (1984)

Having already done Red Alert’s We’ve Got Power with the late Steve Smith in this series, it seemed entirely natural and would be remiss not to extend the same treatment to Red London’s This Is England. Thankfully bassist (and occasional Angelic Upstart) Gaz Stoker and mainstay frontman Patty Smith were quite game and dusted off 40 years of memories since the release of their still urgent debut. Matt and Andrew Stevens heard all about regicide on Wearside, life inside Durham Prison, urban riots, the Falklands, nightclub brawls and the bomb, so just the usual for an Oi album from 1984 then.

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In memory of Taï-Luc, by Jean-Eric Perrin

La Souris Déglinguée held a special place in the hearts of the first skinhead generation of Paris, particularly those notorious kids from the Les Halles neighbourhood. They weren’t an Oi band, nor really a punk band either – but they were cut from the same cloth as their audience. La Souris Déglinguée were also a significant force in French rock ‘n’ roll in general. The passing of their vocalist, Taï-Luc, last Friday, with the news only surfacing yesterday, has left a profound void. In tribute to his memory, we present an obituary by Jean-Eric Perrin, a co-author of the band’s 2016 biography, Week-ends sauvages – La Souris déglinguée, 1981-1990.

One of a kind. A true street icon. A genuine rock ‘n’ roll hero. A role model. A poet of the mavericks. A philosopher of outcasts. Taï-Luc, who tragically left us on 1 December 2023, was worthy of such praise, but he was too modest to accept it. The truth is he should be rightfully bestowed the honour as leader of La Souris Déglinguée (“the fucked-up mouse”, aka LSD), the band he led for so many decades.

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