Reviews - The Exsenadors

One of the current flag bearers for skinheads locally is the group, The ExSenadors. Their self-titled CD has been re-issued by the group and is still available from them. I got my copy through Eric, their guitarist, who I met when I dropped by the studio where they usually practice, which was quite accessible from where I am. It was funny, I didn't really realize that he was a member of the group 'til I met him. 

karamihan bigotilyos

The CD features 11 tracks of no frills, skinhead goodness. Which is what I've always thought of oi, no messing around, no BS. 

The cover comes from the picture of the first senate of the country which we can see here. Now, I don't know how the senate of that time was, hopefully, they were vastly different from the apparent crop of crooks that we see today.  Or were they?

The whole thing starts off with an intro akin to PIL's Public Image, that I half-expected Rotten's voice coming in ( "hello, hello" ), with the bass and drum grooves but when the guitars and double time tempo kick in, the comparisons end there. A fitting track to set the mood for the album.

CD cover

The next tracks, Fight the Power, FTS ( Fuck the Scumbag ), Pigs  are all social commentaries from a street-level point of view. Oi has always been known as "street music", a way of expression for working class pride and ethics, particularly articulated in the Ex's tracks, Anthem and Just like Before. The track Frankie Bigot is an anti-racist rant, targeting the boneheads, who are skins associated with the racist right. I am reminded of a lot of films portraying this stereotype like American History X and Higher Learning among others, where white supremacists also happen to be skinheads. It is worth noting though that this is a stereotype and a lot of skinheads have been taking flak for this as narrated in George Marshalls' Spirit of '69. Racism, just like idiocy, can be found anywhere, just ask Iran's center Hamed Haddadi, who was bombarded with racist slurs when the Philippines lost to Iran in the recently concluded FIBA basketball tournament. As SHARP has stated, we can have "Pride without Prejudice".

From An Asian League CD

The album is quite well recorded, I remember Eric narrating some of the difficulties that they had while recording the tracks. It is quite surprising still that even though we've had a healthy underground for quite a long time, there are still bands who fend for themselves. Nakakalungkot lang, despite all this call for unity and solidarity, kanya kanya pa din. Na sometimes, foreigner pa nakaka-appreciate and nagbibigay ng suporta for our local groups.

I also managed to score a few other CDs from Eric which I may review if I ever get the time to actually sit down and write about 'em. One of them is an Asian compilation of skinhead groups, released by Bronze Fist, featuring the Philippines own The Mighty Contras. I'm not sure though if there are copies still available locally though.

The ExSenadors self-titled CD is a solid first release and hopefully, they'll have a much easier time doing their follow-up. Show your support by getting the CD ( or t-shirt! ) straight from the group or watch them play a gig ( which I haven't managed to get myself to, being the lazy sod that I am ). Or in their own words, bili na kayo para me pambili ng alak. Oi!