The Business
Throughout a career spanning over two decades The Business have written and recorded nine studio albums and have been representatives of Oi/Punk Rock. To this day they still symbolize real underground punk rock music. Oi Music is a sub genre of Punk rock which took off in the late 1970’s and aimed to unite the working classes. Bands such as Sham 69, Cockney Rejects and of course The Business fly the Oi flag, and have done so for a long time.
The Business release this latest album which contains 3 original tracks to get the listener warmed up and then followed by 5 live tracks recorded at the famous Marquee club in London.
The first three tracks have been recorded for the release of this album and give any die hard Business fans something new and exciting to listen to. Opening track “Mean Girl” is fast and catchy with its repetition of the words “Mean, Mean, Mean, Mean Girl”. “Mean Girl” is deceivingly poppy as the following tracks are aggressive and powerful in a melodic yet raucous way.
“Till the End” and “1-2-3” follow and show the more powerful nature of the band with their fast thumping beats and rumbling bass lines carrying the anthemic war cry’s excellently.
By far the most notable part of this album is the live tracks included following these initial 3 tracks. These tracks were recorded during a 15 minute set at the Marquee Club in London in 1982. Not surprisingly the quality of these tracks isn’t great but this adds to the excitement and passion they portray. They show a live band enjoying playing their music and spreading their message through guttural shouts to a respondent crowd.
The tracks are fast and loud and it is great how they have chosen not to cut out the crowd interaction in the middle as you get a real sense of what a dirty underground Oi gig would be like.
This album has enough new material to be a great buy for any Business fan. Whether you’re a fan of Oi rock or just fancy trying something different this album has enough quality material to get new listeners climbing on the bandwagon. After a long career I doubt this band are worried about impressing anyone of any importance anymore, but with an album of such quality content this is certain to do the business.