Moshiach Oi! Hardcore Torah-lovers

I believe there are two schools of thought when it comes to Jewish punk bands. The first and more prevalent being the band has a kitschy Jewish-themed name but generally creates standard hardcore music — and the second is an actual mix of Judaism and punk rock. New York-based band Moshiach Oi! is clearly the latter. These aren't fair-weather Jews, these are punk rock musicians singing about their love for Torah.

The hardcore band's debut album (which came out Aug. 25 on Shemspeed) Better Get Ready even includes a song clearly titled "I wanna learn Torah." Sample lyrics: "I wanna learn Torah, this is what I do, I wanna learn Torah, because I am a Jew."

Simple, straight-forward, unabashed scroll-loving lyrics. All yelled at maximum volume of course.

The band was originally a solo project for singer-guitarist Yishai Romanoff — but he filled out the sound with Menashe Yaakov on guitar, Mitchell (Mordechai) Harrison on bass and Pesach Simcha on drums.

A recent article in The Forward explained the origin of the group's name: "The name of the group can be traced to the roots of punk, which began in the late ’70s when bands ... began playing loud and fast lo-fi garage rock. Soon, a new genre of punk called Oi! emerged to represent the British working class. Thirty years later, lead singer Yishai Romanoff ... used Oi! as a double entendre (Oy, from the Yiddish phrase Oy Vey, is described by the band as the eternal sound of the Jewish working class) "

When I first began listening to Oi bands such as Sham 69 and Blitz whilst still a bratty teen, I always wondered if the genre name had Jewish origins  (this was pre-Wikipedia mind you). Now of couse I know that is not neccesarily the case, but Moshiach Oi! has managed to create a new connection between the two. And I, for one, am pretty excited about the possibilities.

(this collection by British Oi band Sham 69 changed my life)

(and here is the debut album from Moshiach Oi!)

You can purchase Better Get Ready here.

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