Review: Last Crusade - Demo (2014)

Like the Beast Market EP by Relics (although I forgot to mention it), this 4 track EP (3 + Warrior Kids cover) was posted on a Facebook group I'm a member of. This time it was UKHC (Actual Relevant Stuff). Despite being a hardcore group primarily, this was a nice surprise. 
Last Crusade are self described "Boot Boy R'N'R from Northern England". Essentially that means rock and roll played by skinheads AKA OI! I went through a time period of trying to listen to more old school OI! This mostly included Cock Sparrer, Sham 69, The Oppressed and Perkele with the odd splattering of The Last Resort, 4 Skins and Argy Bargy.
Whereas bands like Cock Sparrer and Sham 69 are quite happy-go-lucky in their style, Last Crusade have more of a leaning towards bands like The Last Resort and Templars and even touch upon the more Oi influenced hardcore bands like Discipline and Blood For Blood. It's hard hitting angry punk rock, pure and simple. All 4 tracks on this EP are all fueled with venom. Deadbeat is one of those biographical songs which points out one's faults yet somehow makes it a thing to be proud of. Sort of a losers' anthem. Morally Bankrupt is an angry attack on people who think they can do whatever the hell they like and screw the consequences. Cycle of Terror, the most venomous of the songs, is a total "fuck you" to religious war and I'm guessing religion in general. Both Morally Bankrupt and Cycle of Terror seem to sung much gruffer than Deadbeat, so I can't tell if it's a different guy singing lead of if the one guy just upped his game. Either way, it adds to aggressiveness of the songs. All three songs have simple and catchy choruses that, once you hear it enough, you'll have stuck in your head. Finally, they cover Personne by French band Warrior Kids. It could be easily passed off as their own. Not only does it have the same tough vibe that the three original songs have already laid out for us but word has it that there is at least one French-Canadian in the band. This is probably why the entire EP has a feel of being "European" and not pure British Oi as we know it. Comparing it to the original, it's very similar to when Blood For Blood covered Ultra Violence by The Oppressed. All the same ingredients are there, there's just some extra meat and a few pints of beer thrown in for good measure.
Hoping it doesn't just stop here with this EP. Hope they bring out an album and start touring some more and can hopefully make more of a name for themselves in the punk world.
4/5