Honestly, everyone’s racist to a certain extent. White, black, brown – whatever. We each have preconceived and ill-informed notions about people we don’t know. That’s a part of life. So the next time someone tells you they’re not racist, feel free to call ‘em a liar.

Probably, there are gonna be a good number of people that disagree with all of that – they’re called liberals. And as much as I’m personally disgusted by closed minded, right wing folks, the left is just as bothersome. What’s most disconcerting, though, is the fact that when liberals protest and get smacked down by the cops, it’s a violation of their rights. When the right seeks to organize –spew half-truths and racist nonsense – suddenly, lefties want some sort of injunction on the event. On occasion, the argument is bolstered by something about avoiding violence. But really, it boils down to the fact that no one likes to be disagreed with.

When skinners wanna throw a party, people take umbrage. If the stated end result of a gathering is to inflict harm on another, we should all understand folk’s desire to police the event. To preclude it seems a bit over the top.

A band that was supposed to appear at one of the aforementioned skinner skirmishes is English Rose. There’s not too much info on the British band floating around the internets for a few reasons. Firstly, if people wanna smash your face in because of what you believe in, it’s probably not in your best interest to make yourself easily available to the general public with websites and various contact information. Secondly, skinners don’t interact well with technology.

Despite all of that, The White Album (get it?) by English Rose is floating around the tubes that make up the web. And before briefly delving into the music, it’s gotta be said that whatever your stance or opinion about the music is, the endless puns that RAC (Rock Against Communism) are given over to are endlessly entertaining.

But really, how many songs about pride does anyone need to hear?

The answer, when taking in any variety of Oi!, is apparently ‘an endless barrage of them.’ Surprisingly, though, there’s only a single track on this English Rose release with the word pride in its title – “Show My Pride.” And while the approach to punked up Oi! taken here finds the band getting into Exploited territory – the more metalic side of it – what’s most problematic is the fact that there’s not too much lyrical territory to explore.

Granted, the group’s lead singer and lone constant member has a point of view he wants to relate, but being around for such a long time, English Rose has surely examined what it perceives to be scumbags, foreigners and political quandaries.

The one up shot to The White Album and RAC in a general sense is the fact that, for the most part, it’s void of love songs. So while, that traditional song construction endlessly strangles the music industry English Rose shuns it. Of course, what it’s replaced by isn’t all that great. So, it’s a draw.