TEMPLARS - "PHASE II" LP

Lulu's:

To begin, choosing The Knights Templar as the gimmick for your Oi! band is simply fantastic. Bravo. It lends an odd heft and bizarrity that just so perfectly suits what's going on between the grooves - which is late 60's inspired rebellious rock and roll from a dapper (for the 90's at least) & multiracial cast of Skins from New York City. Why they're fascinated with the mysterious Knights Templars is never made clear, aside from the fact that they are an inherently fascinating subject. The TEMPLARS sound is mostly made up of guitar moves you'd expect to hear in early tunes from The Who or Yardbirds accompanied by dumbbeatles basslines and super crude and tightly-wound drumming (sometimes sped up sometimes not). It's this drumming that anchors their sound to the streets of punk/oi with brash, burly and most flagrantly unsubtle vocals finishing off the job. Mentally blend Townshend with Negative Approach and you'll get the idea. The important thing to note is just how insanely hooky everything they do is. There's talent in simplicity and that's what these lads had. A real anomaly in their sound is the Intro/Land Of The Free from Phase II, which for my money is one of the most underrated one-two gems in punk - the songs aren't back to back but share a melodic motif so I'll still claim it as an all-time combo. Perry, Phil and Carl gave their lives and kept the tradition alive and so it is your duty to sit back and enjoy it.