New Oi!-influenced punk out of Denver.

Our take: Spirit of Revolt is a project based in Colorado but with strong North Carolina ties. One member is Montgomery Morris, who was a fixture in the NC music scene for years before he moved out west. Spirit of Revolt is a leftist oi! band. We’ve encountered a few of those over the past few years, including Hard Left and Death Ridge Boys. I don’t know how I feel about the whole thing… I like oi! music and I sympathize with these politics, but it’s a bit like starting a Christian black metal band or something… the concept can get in the way of appreciating the actual tunes. While Spirit of Revolt is on the same page as the aforementioned groups conceptually and politically, their sound is different. If you’re familiar with Montgomery’s NC bands—particularly Flesh Wounds—you’ll hear his fingerprints all over this, though I don’t know what he plays in the band since he’s capable with at least a few different instruments, the credits on the j card are pseudonymous, and the band has no internet presence that I can find. Those hard-and-fast, clean-sounding guitars though… Flesh Wounds fans will be all over it. The songs run the gamut of oi! sub-styles (ranging from tougher sounding to more melodic), but I think Spirit of Revolt is at their best in the latter mode, particularly on “Seize the Means” and “161,” which remind me of faster 4 Skins songs like “Evil.” Fortunately there’s plenty of musical meat underneath thes layer of ironic juxtaposition.