15 songs of hard and aggressive Oi from Scotland, even with a bit of a punk influence if you want to call it that, a shot harder than what you're used to hear from British bands, a band that made a name for themselves with last year's single and numerous live appearances.

 

 

Bakers Dozen began in the summer of 1995. It was the end result of several drunken practices of old oi classics involving myself and some friends, we even wrote a few songs (some of which are still used today) but the other 3 guys who where involved in the band looked upon the Dozen as nothing more than a joke and went onto do their own things. I thought different and wanted to take the band in a more serious direction, other friends who had heard Bakers Dozen said they preferred them to the band that I was playing in full time (Beergut 100) and with that kind of encouragement I drafted in 2 new members.

Craig Young (Thermos) was a mate of mine who was also drumming in Beergut 100 at the time and had shown an interest in playing for Bakers Dozen. Gary Lafferty was playing in two local punk bands at the time (The Happy Spastics and Overspill) and had also shown an interest in Bakers Dozen when mentioned before. The three of us began rehearsing and writing songs as well as a few covers (Rapist-Combat 84, Remember This-Condemned 84 and Violence In Our Minds-Last Resort). We played one gig as a last minute support to Beergut 100 at a gig in Fife, Scotland which erupted in violence (not a good start for a first gig). Things kind of slowed down for a while, this was mid 97.

In 1998 I drafted in a guitarist called Dave Wallace (Dougal), he was seventeen years old and could play like a man possessed but unfortunately had the attitude of a fourteen year old at times. In August 1999 Beergut 100 split up after a disastrous European tour involving riot police at two shows and internal trauma that could never be repaired.

This however was the perfect opportunity for Bakers Dozen to become the full time band. Our first gig as a four piece band was supporting local Edinburgh ska merchants Bombskare at the local skinhead haunt the Postillion. We gigged there a few times with Bands like On File, The Swellbelly's and the Happy Spastics until the pub was closed down in mid 2000. We then did a few shows in England with Retaliator, Resistance 77 and On File. In the spring of 2000 we played our first European show in Brugge, Belgium at the legendary De Kastelein skinhead pub, the gig was a riot and we all had a great time.

We were invited to play at an up coming oi festival in Kent, Northfleet to be exact. Many top oi bands were on the bill such as Condemned 84, Section 5, Retaliator and On file, as you can expect we were delighted and couldn't wait to play, Dave on the other hand was feeling the strains of being a sheltered kid playing in an oi band and left the band shortly before Northfleet. A good friend of ours Gordon (Gogs) Balfour whom I had known from his days in the Exploited stepped in to replace Dave for the gig and certainly saved the day.

We gigged on and off for a while after that as a three piece and entered the studio to record our debut record, the Ripe For Violence ep. It was a cracking three track affair with tracks Pick A Victim and Fire Arms Offender playing as the B side. The single was released on the German Screwed up label who had also released the On File album and in short they did an excellent job.

Our current guitarist Bobe joined Bakers Dozen after seeing us at HITS. He used to play in local Scottish punk band External Menace and has been fitted in well to the band to this day.

In November 2001 we entered the studio again to record a split lp with the excellent Retaliator. This one was getting called Kick Down That Fucking Wall and was getting released on another German label Blind Beggar. The end result was five new tracks from Bakers dozen and four from Retaliator

After the impacting debut single and after some months of delay, at least hit the street the awaited debut single of the sensational Scottish band, who next to Retaliator is the best band from the British islands in years. 15 brilliantsongs on the classic British streetpunk, not far from the early One Way System, or the 80's Oi on the line of bands such as Blitz. My fave cuts from the record include "Divided from the masses", the great "Yesterday's news" about the media, "Born liar" about the politicians, "Work shy", "Skinheads (men bahaving badly)",... but the rest of songs are also on the same level. Included on the CD is an 8 pages booklet with colour photos and lyrics. A very very good record which you can't ignore... real streetpunk at its best !

Camden Town #15.

Nach ihrer "Ripe for Violence" EP präsentieren die Schotten nun ihr erstes Vollalbum, und sie knüpfen da an wo sie aufgehört haben. Auf 48.15min wird solide Oi-Mucke geboten wie man es von der Insel ker kennt. 15 lieder bei denen es unter anderen um arbeitlose Penner, Pädophile une natürlich rund ums Thema Skinhead geht. Im Beiheft sind Fotos und Texte, die Musik ist auch geil und was verlangt man mehr von einer CD. Also bleibt mir als Resümee nur zu sagen : KAUFEN !!!

Foeir Frei #16.


Also endlich mal wieder ne Scheibe die mich vom Hocker reist. Oi Vom feinsten geben die vier schottoschen Skins hier von sich. Musikalisch und Textlich echt ein Knaller, vielebracht und somit fehlt es auch nicht an Qualität. Sehr gut aufgenommen und ein Booklet mit allen Texten und einer Menge Fotos. Hier kann ich nur sagen das jeder zugreifen soll, der auf alten Oi steht.

OiTanic #1.

debüt album der schottischen oi! band bakers dozen auf pure impact von 2002. 15 eingängige skinhead stampfer mit ordentlich melodie und viel oh-oh-oh. im booklet gibt es alle texte und die obligatorischen fotos. eine durch und durch saubere produktion. bakers dozen gehören zu den klassischen oi! bands und sind definitiv an der europäischen spitze zu suchen. ich mag ja diese unabhängigen bands die nicht bei einem verkackten label unterschreiben, welches sich um 'political correctness' bemüht. auch wenn dann natürlich nicht jedes wochenende in einem veganen jugendzentrum spielen kann. aber wer will das schon...

www.keinehaare.com

 
Our Cult #3+4


Nach der göttlichen Single präsentieren die Schotten hier ihren resten Longplayer auf Pure Impact Records. 15 x Oi/Skinheadmusik und es klingt kein bisschen langweilig und fast alle Lieder bleiben einem gut im Ohr hängen. Manchmal erinnert mich der Gesang von seiner Rauheit und Aggressivität an die Amis von Stars & Stripes, ist also nicht dieser typische Midtempo-Oi wie ihn z.B. ihre Landsmänner von On File praktizieren (womit ich jetzt nix dagegen sagen will !), sondern ein gutes Stück härter und mit viel Melodie versehen. Das gefällt ! Das Booklet wurde auch sehr nett gestaltet und zu meckern habe ich an dieser CD nix, sie sollte in jedem guten CD-Regal stehen. Bakers Dozen und Retaliator dominieren für mich derzeit die Oi-Musik auf der Insel !

Violence #10.

Man, finally after reviewing a real load of crap this time around you get something like this to clear your ears. Bakers are from Scotland and represent their land proudly with up front, no frills, no filler Oi!. To compare it to something I would have to say it reminded me of something like Retaliator, but less metal, and rawer. The vocals on this are just so strong from beginning to end that they really drive the whole disc but at the same time, don’t shut everything else out. It’s not just that they’re belted out loud, but Jon uses a gruff style that stays consistent and believable whether he’s doing more shouted, or sung stuff, and trust me, that is not an easy thing to do. That’s not to say the music side isn’t very good either, because it’s excellent. Think actually punky Oi! played fast with just enough lead guitar work here and there to flavor the release and vary things up a little. Although it was all top shelf my favorites were Yesterday’s News, which was boosted by some back up vocals by the rest of the band and the melodic Born Liar that also was the best showcase of vocal and guitar talent together. Topics discussed on the record are the more typical British stuff like child molesters, a traitorous government, the media, etc. However, out of the generous total of fifteen songs there was some new ground covered, I liked Work Shy, a number about the lazy people who abuse the public welfare system. Also it was great to see a little of that famous Scottish humor come through with songs like Ironmonger and Skinheads (Men behaving badly). True to form, Pure Impact laid out a nice looking package that complemented the theme of the release well. It’s hard to put into a review how good this disc was. “Divided From The Masses” has all the elements of a crucial skinhead rock and roll record and more, but it is also important for what it does not have. There are NO ballads, slow songs, movement slogans, immature epithets, none of that. The fact that well-written, sane patriotic music is such a rarity really only makes bands like Bakers that much more important. This is truly one of the best releases of the year and is absolutely recommended to everybody reading this.

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