Those Unknown
“Self-Titled”
(TKO Records)
This is a reissue of Those Unknown’s 1995 debut CD. In hindsight, this album proves to be a high water mark in old school punk of the mid-’90s. The group has a tough, muscular street punk sound with nods to hardcore. At its feistiest it is what an old friend of mine would have descriptively called “boot thrash.” There is a real working class attitude here (“Bound for Glory, Headed for Hell”) and slight English accent that makes the music oi-friendly.
The original release has been expanded to fourteen by the addition of two bonus tracks. All the lyrics are provided and there are liner notes from band member Rich Owens. In today’s largely apolitical neo-punk scene the incisive radicalism of those unknowns in refreshing and Rich Owens fairly calls for a revolution in his liner notes. Should a revolution come, this would be an ideal soundtrack. Punk revival that is RIYL: Sham 69, The Business, The Adicts.
