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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/39806/full/39806/mosaich-oi-hardcore-torah-lovers/ <br /><br /> <b>Moshiach Oi! Hardcore Torah-lovers</b> <br /> Tuesday, September 8, 2009 | by emily savage <br /><br /><p> </p> <p><img alt="moshiach-082709_334" height="334" src="/images/uploads/blog_art/0809/moshiach-082709_334.jpg" title="moshiach-082709_334" width="320" /></p> <p>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 <a href="http://www.myspace.com/moshiachoi613" target="_blank">Moshiach Oi!</a> is clearly the latter. These aren't fair-weather Jews, these are punk rock musicians singing about their love for Torah.</p> <p>The hardcore band's debut album (which came out Aug. 25 on Shemspeed) <em>Better Get Ready </em>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."</p> <p>Simple, straight-forward, unabashed scroll-loving lyrics. All yelled at maximum volume of course.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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) "</p> <p>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.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="front_288" height="283" src="/images/uploads/blog_art/0809/front_288.jpg" title="front_288" width="288" /></p> <p>(this collection by British Oi band Sham 69 changed my life)</p> <p><a href="http://www.myspace.com/moshiachoi613" target="_blank"><img alt="moshiachoicover2-2_288" height="282" src="/images/uploads/blog_art/0809/moshiachoicover2-2_288.jpg" title="moshiachoicover2-2_288" width="288" /></a></p> <p>(and here is the debut album from Moshiach Oi!)</p> <p>You can purchase <em>Better Get Ready </em><a href="http://www.ccnow.com/cgi-local/cart.cgi?djhandler_MoshiachOi_www.modularmoods.com/purchase.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>

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