If you’ve kept abreast of the subculture, FUERZA BRUTA best not be an unfamiliar name. Many years in, this Chicagoland outfit has played all over the world and proven over and over again to whoever will listen why their take on Oi! music is so powerful, refreshing, and crucial. A few years since their last release, Contra doesn’t deviate much from the FB formula of the past, but it is certainly delivered leaner, meaner, more confident, and direct than we have yet to see from these men, or anyone else for that matter. It’s worth mentioning that while FUERZA BRUTA have historically been associated with and appealed to fans of groups like Templars, Battle Ruins, and the like— as they rightly should — there is just as much in common sonically, with classic Spanish and South American punk of the 80s, and the results couldn’t sound more natural a fit. 

Two different versions will be released simultaneously, in North America by Warthog Speak, and in Europe by Mendeku Diskak with similar but different cover artwork. Bienvenido el regreso del verdugo!!!!! 

Our take: It’s been seven years since Fuerza Bruta’s previous full-length, and if Contra has been in the works that long, it shows… it’s a compact, action-packed oi! album that goes from hit to hit without ever feeling redundant or generic. As the label’s description notes, it sounds like there’s as much classic Spanish and South American punk in Fuerza Bruta’s sound as oi!… many bands from those parts of the world take a lot from the Clash and the Pistols, and I hear the anthemic choruses of the former and the latter’s beefy riffs all over Contra. Fuerza Bruta can do straightforward, punky oi! with the best of them—see the upbeat “Librepensador”—but the whole of Contra is shot through with subtlety and craftsmanship that is relatively rare in the oi! scene, which tends to value things that are more straightforward and direct. I imagine fans of Mexico’s Mess would like Contra; while Fuerza Bruta doesn’t sound exactly like them (they aren’t so reminiscent of Blitz), there’s a similar elegance and power to the songwriting. And much of Contra transcends oi! entirely, with moments like the scorching yet melancholic guitar solo in “Regreso del Verdugo” edging into Leatherface territory. A succinct, powerful, and highly re-playable record.