Those Unknown - Contribution 7" EP (Black)

Tracklist: 

A. Building A Prison 

B. Getting, While The Getting's Good

Recenze Backstreet Battalion:

Those Unknown je pom?rn? dlouho fungující kapela (cca od konce 80. let) a byla zaoľena v New Jersey. Cca po deseti letech se zp?vák a kytarista Owen p?est?hoval do Kalifornie, kde kapelu obnovil s novými ?leny. Nyní má kapela ?ty??lennou sestavu a hraje se dv?ma kytarami. Na kont? má banda dv? alba a s tímto po?inem p?t singl?. Na tomto singlu s názvem Contribution najdete písn? Building a Prison a Getting While the Getting is Good. Kapelu popravd? znám jen podle názvu, takľe nemohu nijak srovnávat vliv sestavy ze západního a východního pob?eľí stát?. Hudebn? se jedná o takovej popov?jí Oi!/streetpunk, kterému dominují pomalejąí a leh?í kytarové vyhrávky (které jsou patrné hlavn? na konci prvního songu) a zp?v Owena, který není nijak násilým hnaný do tvrdé roviny, ale naopak je p?kn? p?irozený a troąku p?ipomíná zp?v starých anglických kapel alá Cock Sparrer. V prvním songu je parádní pasáľ, kde je jen zp?v a kytara a to já teda m?ľu. V obou songách jsou i parádní basové vyhrávky, které dopl?ují kytaru. Oba songy jsou vskutku propracované a je vid?t, ľe kapela má lecos za sebou (ať uľ v jedné nebo druhé sestav? a p?edpokládám, ľe práv? Owen je zodpov?dný za tvorbu muziky). Fajn hudba.

Review American Oi: 

Since the band?s foundation in the late 80?s, Those Unknown have been going strong for 25(!) years now. After the band switched from the East Coast to the West Coast and fired its last bullets on the ?Malice And Misfortune? EP in the year 2000 everything went radio silent and the only remaining original band member, singer / guitarist Bill Owens, called in a hiatus but now Those Unknown is not only back on stage, but with brand new recordings as well! Two to be more precise, on one 7? brought to you by Contra Records. 

The EP is entitled ?Contribution? and contains ?Building A Prison? and ?Getting While The Getting Is Good?, both in that significant Those Unknown style that is, assuming you aren?t familiar with this band, best described as ?that early TKO Records sound?. This is funny, because despite Those Unknown actually having two releases on TKO Records (the EP mentioned in the first paragraph and the ?And They Give Us The Scraps? compilation from 2003) in the past, they already nailed this sound before the label was even born and that way coincidentally influenced bands like The Beltones, Workin? Stiffs, One Man Army etc?, whether they heard of Those Unknown or not. And for that reason alone I am very ecstatic that these guys are back! 

Because this blend of true, working class punkrock mixed with Oi! influences is something I miss every now and then. These guys don?t sound like they?re trying too accepted by the masses and their record, even in 2014, isn?t over-produced, but still they make songs that are extremely catchy and nostalgic that could, and should, appeal to anyone who reads this website. All because this band can be summed up by one simple word; Genuine. A must-have on black wax and on limited transparent vinyl (148 copies) with an alternative colored cover! Grab it!

Review Backstreet Battalion: 

Those Unknown is quite long playing band (circa end of 80´s ) which was founded in New Jersey. After around about ten years, singer and guitarist Owen moved to California, where he founded the band again with new members. Those Unknown plays nowadays in four piece line up with two guitars. They have released two full length albums and five singles including this one. On this EP called Contribution you may listen to two songs called Building a Prison and Getting While the Getting is Good. I know the band just according to their name so I can´t compare west coast line up to the east coast one. Musically it is Oi!/streetpunk with poppy touches with simple and slower guitar solos (just check the end of the first song) and Owen´s vocal which is not violent and tough but natural and it sounds me similar to vocals of old English bands like Cock Sparrer for example. In first song is great part just with vocals and guitar and I really like it. In both songs you may hear great bass and it is evident that band really plays for some years (in both line ups and I presume that Owen is responsible for writing music) Fine music.