Captain Oi strikes again with a lovingly put together vinyl reissue of Cock Sparrer‘s storied 1982 debut barnstormer Shock Troops. Looking back now, of course, it’s all a bit quaint as the band roar through their spirited mixture of the Pistols, Small Faces, Sham 69 and Doctor Feelgood, but at the time this album was truly jet propelled and the soundtrack of a thousand houseparty barnies as punks, mods, skins and scooter boys took cider n’pill fuelled excitement to new heights…

That said, Watch Your Back still oozes a fair bit of menace, whilst the band’s best song, Take ‘Em All, still managed to get this reviewer up and about in the kitchen when it came roaring out of the speakers…

I Got Your Number is a hot rodded slice of East End power pop, whilst the band’s paean to life on the dole, Working, will raise a smile for anyone who has ever earned a bit of cash ‘on the side’ as it were… As a piece of social history, Shock Troops is a beautiful snapshot of how the working classes rocked in Thatcher’s Britain, which was quite literally a different World from today’s corporate-sponsored punk scene.

Boot boy anthem England Belongs To Me finds it’s way on to side one whilst Argy Bargy and Colonel Bogey do the same on side two, but otherwise the album is presented just as it was all toe years ago; It was a joy coming back and enjoying the album after a few years away, and if you’ve ever wondered about what Oi! in it’s purest form might sound like – or if you just want a great singalong album for your next dinner party – then look no further. Oi Oi!

Get yer boots and ‘arries on – The Shock Troops reissue releases on May 23rd.