East End Babylon review

Oi! It’s the story of punk outfit Cockney Rejects!

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Born into deprivation with claret and blue running through their veins, Canning Town punks the Cockney Rejects wrote angry, noisy anthems that chimed with West Ham’s hooligan contingent and, to their chagrin, far-right neo-Nazis.

Their brief career in the limelight, recounted with relish by sibling bandmates Jeff and Mick Geggus, involved drunken yobbery on Top Of The Pops , future Sun pariah Garry Bushell – their first manager – and an infamous 1980 gig dubbed “the battle of Birmingham”.

Older if not especially wiser, the brothers prove engaging guides through the “Oi!” subgenre. Their music, though, will leave some eardrums pleading for mercy.

Freelance Writer

Neil Smith is a freelance film critic who has written for several publications, including Total Film. His bylines can be found at the BBC, Film 4 Independent, Uncut Magazine, SFX, Heat Magazine, Popcorn, and more.