Necomer Oi! / Streetpunk from the Netherlands

THE PATRONS - "PRIDE & DIGNITY" ("Support Your Scene Records" / "Mother Fucking Sounds"; CD):

Here we do have a young and new Streetpunk band from the Netherlands, it's their debut and I've never heard anything from or about the labels that are dropping it out on the market in some kind of a coproduction thing. How-ever, like I said, it's a very new and young band, and yes, if you look at the bandpictures then you'll see that also the guys in the band are damn young. What I've first noticed was the very cool artwork of this record, colours, motifs, pictures, lyrics, it all flows very good in together, looks good. Ah, okay, enough said to this issues, now to the music. We do get some very fast and catchy, surely melodic and quick played Streetpunk, dominated by the edged guitar work and the piercing vocals. The bass playing is not that henpecking as it could be (because there's only one guitar player in the band), but some fast and tight stuff, and the drums do their best in giving the songs a through and through tight and hard backbone. It's a not to postualting style of Streetpunk music that these young guys are spitting out, it's truly a more easy sound, but okay, that don't have to be something bad at all, as long as it's not becoming some too simple and too trashy snot, and this is not the case here at all. It's maybe a little bit comparable with the old english or british Streetpunk music and acts (from BLITZ to the old THE EXPLOITED stuff). Like I said, the most songs are played fast, and that's a little bit of the major problem of this record, because a lot of the songs sound not totally the same way, but they surely sound (sometimes even very) often some kind of equal, they could definitive work a (sometimes bigger) little bit more at their songwriting abilities. But this record is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong, it's just nothing too fancy or too new or too exciting stuff, but at the end of the day some good and solid work. (Okay, you surely have to decide for yourself, if you still need some "just" solid Streetpunk these days...) We get seven songs at all, six songs are as far as possible good songs, and with "Bootboy Rock 'n' Roll" they have created a really hymn, a damn good track (that's also breaking out of the fast paced songs standard, it's more mid paced and also some kind of harder played then the other songs) that'll really rock you out of your boots!!! Cool stuff!!! So, the bottom line is, don't expect anything too brilliant or what-so-ever stuff, but if you are looking out for some new Streetpunk bands, then THE PATRONS could be something for you and so you should take a listen to this guys. Like I said, the artwork looks really great, the dirty and snotty sound is a beauty, and we do also get all the lyrics (also nothing too special, more the typical Streetpunk commonplace topics, but done in a nice and authentic way, so after all that's okay, all good and fine with me). Solid Streetpunk, surely nothing more, but also surely nothing less. Ah, but "hard hitting Oi!", like the labels do propagate it... Nah, I don't think so, so better forget about it. But okay, like I've already said, if you are still searching for some solid Streetpunk music, putted out by a young newcomer band, then take a fair listen to and try THE PATRONS. (6 of 10 points)

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