Hard Skin

Every subgenre worth its salt has its parody bands. Hair metal has Spinal Tap. The British invasion has the Rutles. And oi! has Hard Skin. With a sound coming straight out of London’s West End circa 1982, the band digs out the standard British skinhead clichés—drinking pints and starting fights—and sets them to tunes nicked straight from the Business and Sham 69. Hard Skin rails against Margaret Thatcher and “Old Bill” and sings praise to lager and darts. To some this may seem redundant, as plenty of bands in this genre penned odes to boots and beer and meant it. But the fact that Hard Skin is joking is neither here nor there. These songs stand on their own as catchy anthems that will have you raising your glass and singing along.