Trouble from London

2023 marks ten years of London Town's premier Oi! Band Crown Court. The North London Skins have been spearheading the revival of the street punk sound of recent times. A new generation of working-class youth has taken the sound and style of the original Oi! Bands of the 80’s repackaged and re-imagined it. Crown Court is joined by several other UK bands representing Oi!, such as Grade 2, The Chisel, and Clobber, who have also made waves in the scene. Although very different in sound, their impact cannot be ignored. The resurgence of this hardline working-class sound is in full effect. Crown Court has caught the eye of the mainstream media with The Guardian writing a feature-length article on the band last year, a write-up which touches on the hard-to-ignore violent ultra-nationalist history of the original street punk movement. However, far from being one-sided or negative, the article also features quotes from Crown Court frontman Trevor Taylor. Taylor talks about his experience of the scene growing up, attending football on the weekends, and his knowledge of being a young Skinhead in North London. He is ambitious and hopes to see Crown Court rise from the underground and take Oi! to the masses. Legendary independent music magazine Vive Le Rock are the latest publication to show interest in the band. They wrote a two-page feature on the band in their newest edition of the magazine.

Taylor and his gang of North London bandits are providing the injection of youthful energy and anger that Oi! has been crying out for the last 20 years. The spotlight is now back on a sound that has seemingly left behind the dark days of fascist bootboys and politically questionable bands. Sure, they still exist. Thankfully, they are a dying breed. The new generation wanna hear tales of football fights and heroes from the terraces of yesteryear like ‘Sammy Skyves’. Or rock n roll stompers like ‘Rich Boy’. Crown Court tick all the boxes. No mess, no fuss, pure impact. Armed with the recent release of their second full-length ‘Heavy Manners’ on Randale Records, the band is preparing to take the world by the bollocks and beam some rude hooligan rock n roll into the mainstream. As standard, I’ve seen lazy comparisons to bands from the ’80s, such as Sham 69 and Angelic Upstarts; I’ve even read the name Anti-Nowhere League thrown around. In my opinion, Crown Court are in a league of their own they have developed a distinctive sound with unrivalled energy. Oi! ain’t dead! It could be argued that we have Crown Court to thank for that.

The boys have already embarked on several successful shows in Europe this year. Followed by a lively headlining show at 229 in London. The summer will see them heading across the pond to embark on their first foray onto American soil on tour with New York Skins Violent Way.

In the British music press, Noel Gallagher tells everyone who will listen that rock n roll has become a middle-class pursuit. He said, “Working-class kids can’t afford to do it now.” This a typically ignorant quote from an old has-been demonstrating how out of touch he is with real underground music. However, it's hard not to agree with his opinion on The 1975 winning Best Rock/Alternative Act at this year's Brits.

‘The 1975, best rock band, someone needs to redefine that, someone needs to redefine that immediately. I don’t know what that is, but it’s certainly not fucking rock.’

I’m paraphrasing, of course. Mainstream rock lacks working-class grit. Who better than Crown Court to boot the door to the mainstream off its hinges. A band originating from the council estates of North London shouting about football fights and joyriding in stolen motors are a far cry from Oasis songs of dreaming of rock and roll glory or feeling the pain in the morning rain.