The Destructors "Dead Beat to WHite Heat," "999," "Quisnam Vigilo Vigilo," "Politika," "101010 (Meaning of Life)," Destructors/Sick on the Bus split CD, Destructors/Black Marias split CD

(Rowdy Farrago) Before getting into their new proper album let's check out three (!) more theme CDs for this veteran English punk band whose sound falls somewhere between catchy Oi and driving trash rock. They make the coppers, society and electoral politics (respectively) take it up the arse, and I am moshing all over my room right now even if I don't know the difference between Tory and Labour or exactly why to be mad at those cute-helmeted bobbies. Back to their old tricks of releasing split CDs, Destructors also team up with the potty mouthed, modern guitar sound-marred Sick On The Bus ("Whores Not Wars" - really?), but the Destructors tracks are pretty great, including a Saints cover and a bouncing bass tribute to modern art and Art Garfunkel (has any lyric  captured Art's sadness better than "what looks happy from the outside never is when you're looking in"?) which includes a Gilbert and George shout-out. Better still is the split with The Black Marias who actually have the Oi-dacity to be sonically akin to the Destructors (who then match that by covering "Sonic Reducer"). Also interesting is "101010," not an album about digital encoding but a record about how life is rough, released on October 10th 2010 for one day only, so if you dontt get it that day, your life is rough! But the real treasure is "Dead Beat to White Heat," 46 minutes of pub stomping pleasure that makes me want to fight and think and protest and drink warm beer! People often ask why do we labor over doing this zine and the real answer is that we do it because nothing makes us happier than receiving 10 Destructors CDs in the mail every year!