Oxymoron Feed The Breed CD

He might have cut his mohawk, but few vocalists spell pure punk rock fury like Sucker, vocalist for the frenzied and speculative Oxymoron. Always nice to hear on a punk record, his venomous yelp has become quite the instrument of destruction since his induction into the punk underworld. His political opinions and hatred of mainstream punk rock are plentiful on Feed the Breed, a good but strange record for the band. Sounding almost (gasp!) poppy on the 14 tracks here, this is one of the first Oxymoron records to offer this sort of listener-friendly approach. Their sound hasn't changed drastically, especially considering how little Oi! really differs from punk-pop, but the shift towards melodic songwriting is not unwelcome. Where in the past they may have suffered from a few too many chant-alongs, they have a better grasp on song structure and dynamics here. They do sacrifice a bit of their trademark aggression here, but the trade-off seems quite fair by the time "Wild and Dangerous" begins its inspiring rail against the upper class. Hardcore fans might complain, but Oxymoron hasn't cut a bit of their lyrical power in the transition from Oi! purists to a well-rounded punk force. For what might be their best album to date, Feed the Breed stands tall as a fantastic force of Oi! for the 21st century. ~ Bradley Torreano