OI POLLOI – Band of the Week!
Kind of blurry – I had to stand on a chair to take the picture!
OI POLLOI started back in ’81 in Scotland, have been through more band members than anyone could possibly name, except for Deek the vocalist and only mainstay of the band. They probably have close to as many releases as they have past band members.
My introduction to them was back in the mid-80’s with their appearance in the ‘Welcome to Cruise Country’ Maximum Rock N’ Roll photo issue. It was a while later before I got my hands on and owned any of my own records of theirs.
It was their catchy sing-a-long style and anarchist lyrics that drew me to them. They made it incredibly fun to sing about smashing the state and fascists alike. I’ve always loved their metallic street-crust style, the crunchy riffs and mosh pit breakdowns with Deeks gruff and heartfelt vocals were the perfect package. With fist in the air they were fun and easy to sing along with! “Bash the Fash!”
OI POLLOI were not ones to mince words and with creative, yet simple lyrics they tackled the issues of the day head on. No frills, no trying to interpret what the hell they were trying to get across, it was all right in your fucking face and if you weren’t careful you could choke on their realism. Fuck yea! Writing this is getting me stoked, hang on while I put on a record…
I opted for the ‘Fuaim Catha’ LP. Yes!
Most of their releases have cool and informative booklets and rad artwork. The cover of this LP is especially cool.
What I like and appreciate most about OI POLLOI is that although I wrote most of this in the past tense, like they weren’t around anymore, is that they as a band are still alive and kicking!
A couple of years ago they played some US cities but I was not able to see them, I clung to the hope that they would eventually be on the Chaos In Tejas bill one year and I would finally get to see them. Alas that was not to be as it was announced that Chaos in Tejas might no longer be, at least not this year. But then as fate would have it a US tour was announced for the spring of this year and Denver was on the list. Woo Hoo! What happened next really blew away and that was my band ROÄC was added to the bill. I am stoked.
That’s my two cents on OI POLLOI.
Check them out on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oi-Polloi-Official/204143832251?ref=br_tf
They also did a movie awhile back, I think I reviewed it for Profane Existence, it was a hoot and I highly recommend it: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oi-Polloi-The-Movie/144648902243448
ThrashPunx 
My brother recommended I might like this blog.
He was totally right. This put up actually made my day.
You can not believe just how a lot time I had spent for this information! Thank you!