ALBUM REVIEW: The Last Resort – A Way Of Life – Skinhead Anthems Expanded CD Edition (Captain Oi!)
The Last Resort are oi! legends from Herne Bay, Kent, who took their name from the famous East London skinhead shop, and A Way Of Life – Skinhead Anthems is their debut album, originally released in early 1982.
It spent three months in the Top 10 of the then-influential Independent Charts, and has remained enduringly popular thanks to the fact it’s been reissued umpteen times.
A major influence on the hardcore and punk scenes, The Last Resort have seen their songs covered by the likes of Madball, Sick Of It All and Death Threat.
Like contemporaries such as Cockney Rejects, The 4-Skins and The Business, most of their songs are about being proud of who they are/where they’re from, football and fighting. By today’s standards one or two songs sound a little dated and even suspiciously xenophobic, but it was made in different times.
About half the album still features in the setlist of the revived The Last Resort line-up which exists to this today; stonewall oi! classics like Skinheads In Sta-Press, Rebels With A Cause, King Of The Jungle, Violence In Our Minds and Resort Boot Boys.
So what makes this reissue different to previous ones then? Well, it’s the most comprehensive round-up of recordings by the original incarnations of the band yet, adding 13 bonus tracks to round up everything they did.
Bonus tracks
It adds all three tracks from their debut, the rough and ready and ultra-rare Violence In Our Minds cassette single (Held Hostage being the standout for me), plus four songs from the Garry Bushell-curated early ’80s Oi! albums (the best being Strength Thru Oi standout Johnny Barden and Working Class Kids).
There’s a handful of demos, including an early version called Stormtroopers In Sta-Press (wisely changed to Skinheads, to avoid being tarred with the ‘far-right’ brush).
Most previous reissues have included some of these extras, but not all. However, I’m not sure any have featured Wicked Women, from the 1982 compilation United Skins. It was credited to The Warriors, which was, confusingly, the name used for a while by The Last Resort before they split up, though it’s now a separate band fronted by original TLR vocalist Saxby!
Complete with its iconic original cover and featuring lyrics to all the songs, this finally appears to be the definitive collection of early recordings by The Last Resort. 7.5/10.
- The Last Resort: A Way Of Life – Skinhead Anthems, Expanded CD Edition is available now from your local record store or direct from Cherry Red Records HERE.
Still led by vocalist ‘Millwall Roi’ Pearce to this day, The Last Resort also feature Rancid guitarist Lars Frederiksen, and will be releasing a new studio album later this year.
