As I’ve mentioned before, if you see something was released by French oi label Une Vie Pour Rien, you can trust it will be good. That kind of reliability is rare. Don’t just take my word for it. MaximumRockNRoll, Creases Like Knives and American Oi! are just a few that have had a lot of positive things to say about UVPR’s releases.

Claimed Choice “s/t”, 7″, Une Vie Pour Rien Vinyles

In my review of this band’s 2022 LP, We Won’t Give In, I described it as enjoyable. I hadn’t yet listened to it enough to also say some of it was quite catchy. Both descriptors are apt for Claimed Choice’s newest 7″. This is also 2-year old kid approved, as my son had a lot of fun trying to drum along with “Conséquences” on the dinner table. Pointing at the cover by Luzucifer, he exclaims “Go Sox!”, thinking the character was a player on the Chicago White Sox. I wish they had someone on the team that fearsome…anyway the riffs on “La part des choses” have been stuck in my head for days so I’d say this gets the The Coldest Seal of Approval®.

Fracture “Purgatoire”, EP, Une Vie Pour Rien Vinyles

This 7-inch EP was my first time hearing this band, although I was aware they released an EP through Common People Records in early 2022. This is their first release through UVPR. Creases Like Knives, in their review of this record, say “they yet need to develop a distinctive style that’s truly their own”. I suppose this is a polite way to say that Fracture sounds like a faster version of CRAN. As CRAN is currently one of my favorite groups, you’ll hear no complaints from me!

Tchernobyl “Face au mur”, EP, Une Vie Pour Rien Vinyles

Only being familiar with Tchernobyl from their tracks on the superb Oi! l’album Volume 2 and Paris On Oi! compilations, I wasn’t sure what I was in for with this 7″ EP. Rest assured, it is solid French ‘cold oi’ the type that UVPR is somehow able to spot, sign and push out on its skinhead assembly lines. This is music you can recklessly move around in your Solovairs to, or alternatively, blast on your stereo as you sit by yourself, reflecting on life, in the dark, smoking a cigarette.