Here they are, the reviews of the MOUTHGUARD records!!!

MOUTHGUARD - "ONE MORE ROUND" ("Bandworm Records"; 10"):

It was the first release that I got to hear from this australian roughnecks, and damn, it really knocked me out of my sneakers, and yeahr, it was pretty clear to me, that I would have to do an interview with this awesome four piece from Down Under. And yes, the interview you can read on this blog in the entry below. And yes: Read it!!! From the southernmost continent of the western society are coming a lot of fine acts these days across the oceans and all the borders to us, especially from out of the Oi! / Streetpunk & Hardcore genre, so keep your eyes and also your ears open these days, and start your journey to the continent down under calmly with the guys of MOUTHGUARD. I think the first time I've read something about this band was in an earlier issue of the "IN THE STREETS OF HAMBURG" fanzine, done by the "St. Pauli Skinheads" (bah, St. Pauli, disgusting... but it's truly damn good print zine!!!), yes, I'm pretty sure about it. But however, I ordered this beautiful 10" (black vinyl, very nice format / size, great looking artwork, screen printing and an awesome cover design, done by the 'old' german Oi! Punk warhorse 'Paradise' of "Bandworm Records") right when it came out, and I don't know how many rounds this great six tracks had run on my record player, so damn good is this band!!! They are melting Old School Hardcore, fast and hard, yet diverse and melodic, with angry and pissed off, yet thirsty and very Sing-A-Long serviceable Oi! / Streetpunk into one pure gladiatorial and defiant and deep-rooted and very well-versed and stand-alone style of music that you can maybe perfectly describe as Oi! Core, and you have to hear and enjoy it!!! Very gutsy vocals, loud and bold crew shouts, sharp and edged guitar playing, and a fuckin' tight rhythmsection marking the music, and that is totally perfect with me!!! They aren't really comparable to other bands, but maybe if you blend european Streetpunk (think about the dutch and belgian Streetpunk acts) with some strong old school U.S. Hardcore from the Boston area, yeahr, I think that's a pretty good description of the very unique MOUTHGUARD way of sound. And if you like what the australian acts like TOE TO TOE and BULLDOG SPIRIT are doing, you should also risk an ear, surely!!! Great band, and great music!!! All coming in a great format and artwork (like I've said before) and a perfct raw and dirty production sound, but it's a pity that the good lyrics aren't printed, but okay, that don't minimizes the enormous quality of this record and band!!! It's strictly limited to 250 copies, so be quick or be dead, ah, be quick or be a goon!!! Get it!!! (10 of 10 points)

MOUTHGUARD & THE AGITATORS - "SPLIT: WORLD CUP FINAL" ("Aggro 2007"; 10"):

And here is the split of MOUTHGUARD with the belgian Hooligan Streetpunks from THE AGITATORS!!! It's also coming as a strictly limited 10" release, in mint green vinyl and also again in a cool artwork, I think on the band's (read: MOUTHGUARD's) own record label, and both sides deliver us the songs of the bands in a very good fitting production sound. That's the way it's meant to be, if you ask me. So, now to the music: On side A MOUTHGUARD, Down Under's Oi! Core Heavyweight Champions deliver us three songs, two new ("Tuzemsky Rum" & "Green and White") and a song that was with another name also on the "One More Round" release (reviewed before) to find, here it's named "In The Pub" and is played featuring FRANKY 'BOY' FLAME of London's SUPERYOB, who is mostly doing the lead vocals and also some piano work in the background. MOUTHGUARD give us three very fast and sharp songs between harsh Old Tyme Hardcore and catchy Sing-A-Long Oi! / Streetpunk in their own way of sound, let us call it Oi! Core, and be sure, that we do it for some good reasons!!! I think on the one hand these songs are more Hardcore than their "One More Round" 10", but deliver us also even more and even stronger catchy Sing-A-Longs, just great, without getting boring or anything else like this. Great band!!! The only thing that I don't really like are the guest vocals of FRANKY 'BOY' FLAME, because they don't really fit to this song with it's strong Hardcore spirit, but okay, it's also not that bad at all, I can calmly assure this to you. MOUTHGUARD do totally rule, and that's what their side is doing. Now to the THE AGITATORS side. I was not really familiar with them, even they are around for quite a while or so. Hm, but I can't really tell you why... Very good Sreetpunk, more a little bit more 'modern' (or maybe american...) than the whole british stuff, and also more melodic than the british forefathers of this style of music. Combine the dutch way of Streetpunk with the U.S. style from Boston to some parts of the Westcoast. Yes, maybe you can describe their way of Streetpunk pretty good that way. Strong and powerful and hard, yet melodic and catchy and just energizing Streetpunk, dominated by charismatic vocals, full crew shouts, and great melodies. I like it very, very much!!! All played very well, very good chaining up songwriting, so what shall I say more. We get three songs of them, too. Two studio recordings ("Red & White" and "Streams Of Whiskey"), and also a just great live recorded song ("Hooligan"), and all are very, very good songs, for sure, but especially "Hooligan" is a fuckin' larger than life hymne!!! So you get a complete just great package here, but again: Why are the lyrics not printed?!? Damn!!! ;-) You have to call this great 10"your own!!! (9 of 10 points)

(Contact: http://www.myspace.com/mouthguard)

(Contact: http://www.myspace.com/theagitators)

(Just to give you some news about MOUTHGUARD, they are also featured with a pretty good article in the "Oi! THE PRINT" fanzine, so give it a read!!!)