Romper Stomper is a 1992 Australian film directed by Geoffrey Wright starring Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie and Tony Lee. The film follows the exploits and downfall of a Nazi skinhead group in blue-collar suburban Melbourne.
The soundtrack released on Picture This Records includes orchestral music, as well as dark, energetic music similar to the Oi! genre (recorded by studio musicians). The film was nominated for 9 Australian Film Institute Awards, winning Best Achievement in Sound, Best Actor in a Lead Role and Best Original Music Score.
Daniel Pollock, who plays Davey in the film, committed suicide before the film's release by jumping in front of a train. He had been struggling with a serious heroin addiction, as well as the breakup of his romantic relationship with co-star Jacqueline McKenzie. Crowe wrote a song about the suicide called "The Night That Davey Hit the Train" which he later performed with his band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts.
I'm non-white, and a newbie to this Oi! thing, but I do like the fast pace of this musical genre, and I'm interested in getting more. Yes, it's a bit weird at first going along with lyrics of violence directed at people who look like me, but you know human beings get used to most anything. I'm just focusing on the music, I guess, the language of anger and frustration, of outrage and abandon, of illusions of grandeur and empowerment...LOL. As an introduction, I think this is a fairly solid way of broaching that Oi! scene, though I was hoping for maybe some new material...anyway, it is a soundtrack all right. Oddly, not much info was provided: no lyrics, the band ain't even listed....