The contemporary Oi scenes in both the anglo and francosphere have been churning out great work for a while now. If you’re looking to jump in or familiarize yourself with some staples, you need to check out Montreal’s Béton Armé.
Starting with their self titled debut EP in June of 2018, Béton Armé (‘Reinforced Concrete’) have been putting out no bull Punk Rock’n’Roll ever since. But the band’s 2023 EP Second Souffle has really broken through, gaining traction amongst Oi fans worldwide.
Second Souffle was recorded at Studio 440 by frequent collaborator Scott Golyardi (drummer of Force Majeure) and features a clear yet still raw sound, the Goldilocks zone of nearly all recorded music as far as I’m concerned. Crunchy, straight forward riffs, a driving rhythm section, and enough group chanted vocals to please both street and mall punks. Either you’re itching to hear it, or you’ve already clicked off of this article (shucks).
As with a lot of Punk releases in recent years, Second Souffle is short and sweet. 4 tracks spanning 9 minutes, no time wasters. Yet you’ll probably spend more time with Second Souffle given its lack of filler than you would with many Punk LPs of the past 25 years, and I think it’s a great direction for these bands to be going in.
You can find Second Souffle for streaming and digital download over on the band’s Bandcamp page, along with their other releases.
For fans of: Blitz, The Chisel, Rixe
Like Béton Armé? Give these a listen: Syndrome 81, Squelette, CRAN
The Resident Sound 