30 pages. Glossy. Color.
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The Coldest review:
The legendary Crop Top, which was part of a wave of ‘sussed’ zines that emerged in the mid 1980s, partially in reaction to far-right hijacking of the skinhead scene in the UK at the time, returned in November 2023 after a 24 year absence. Having received a lot of interest in that issue, particularly from us in the States, Colin has decided to do another issue…this time a mixture of new and updated older material.
Without question, Colin’s artwork and drawings of skinheads, reggae artists, mods and suedeheads are the real highlight for me personally. Maybe it’s all in my imagination, but the style is very 1980s and something that seems to have been completely lost in contemporary zines, which often go for a derivative cartoonish look. Because putting out a zine is hard work, not something that makes money and they typically have low print runs, even an influential one from a period can become nearly forgotten if enough years go by. Probably every oi! band in 2024 has heard and been influenced by early-80s bands such as The Business or Blitz. But how many of us making similar zines have ever read a copy of "Hard As Nails"? So it’s important to have someone from that period still willing and able to produce issues.
There are a number of interviews with skins who were around during the first-wave in the late 1960s. If you enjoyed the accounts from people in "Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973", then you’ll appreciate these interviews, which were done long before anyone thought to put similar content in a hardback book.
A couple things really stuck out for me. There is a short article about the Marylebone Martyrs, a self-identified suedehead band who formed in 1982, released a 3-song cassette demo and then broke up in 1984 before ever having a proper release. I was completely unaware of them and now wonder how many other bands who didn’t happen to get on one of the many oi! comps of those years I’m also ignorant of.
The inclusion of skins who were also involved in the Northern Soul scene was appreciated. The connection between skinhead culture and American soul music is one that isn’t really recognized but something that is easily noticed from the 1960s until today.
A great issue and an admirable effort!