Tear Up – They Lock The Locks, But They Can’t Stop The Clocks

Anybody listen to Oi nowadays, yep of course we do.  I have to admit its not a genre that gives me an easy listening experience, and maybe this stems back to time spent at her majesties pleasure back when I was only at the tender age of 12/13.  It wasn’t a thing then, but when it really hit, I just found myself raging against everything every time I heard it, and somehow I moved on, so when it does hit the ears, its hard not to feel the anger and boot boy image it brings out in ya.  Anyway, here’s the thing, this band Tear Up although not really Oi, do have that (hope this doesn’t offend, but its 100% how I see it) council estate punk sound that always gets thrown into the mix with Oi, with bands like Crown Court standing out as a name to speak of.

So now having said the word Oi several times already, I have to kinda apologise for this, as Tear Up are a band that does exactly this, they tear up the rule book and play Punk/Oi/Garage with an angst that leaves you in no do that what they are singing about is of there lives and experiences.

This latest album They Lock The Locks, But The Can’t Stop The Clocks comes in at 11 songs of pure energy and down to earth experiences.  So having said all that shot about them not being really Oi, the first track that hits the lugs is ‘Oi Ain’t Dead’ so that blows me outta the water, or does it?, this is a song that sets up the album perfectly, a blast at the system of punk that says “do it our way”, so lets not, it musically has some pretty damn good riffs and it never reaches the same height of anger as the vocal, which is a little refreshing.

As pointed out earlier, this is what I like to refer as council estate punk, and that’s because that’s where I’m from and this style of music hits all the nerves and sinews it is meant to. Title track They Lock They Locks is, as spoken about, a personally close to home song, it drives home the things that mean so much to many of us, not only in the literal way, its a being locked up song that also says how the country feels at the moment in general, governmental control is oppressive, but they won’t win. ‘Shit Tattoo’ is a song that falls around half way through, it gives some light relief in the form of a Toy Dolls style story and sound.  This shows how this although an angry slice of real life, is also capable of showing its smiling side too, ‘Wrong End Of The Street’ gives us an opposite end of the scale to this, it speaks of just how living at the wrong end of life, can also be a place to bring you together to not only fight and survive, but to also be part of a real community that cares about each other.

Tear Up might not always be your first choice, yes they my be in the Oi camp, but then they break rules and musically give it all the revolution you can ever want.

This album will steal your money, fuck you over, but then pay you back in kind, with some full on punk life reality!

Out now, You can head over to their FACEBOOK for more info. For pre-sale on vinyl go HERE

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