Feel no fear

Big Joanie | The Breeders | NOFX

In some ways the first couple of weeks of the New Year are the best part of the whole 12 months. It’s a time when resolutions and would-be revolutions have yet to be tarnished or pushed off course by life’s headwinds.

I love this time of the year. Making resolutions, much like plans or lists, is a useful way to rethink ingrained habits. Sticking to the lofty and not so lofty goals you set yourself can be more challenging, though this January will – once again – be dry and I’ll get back to exercising after my month-long cough/cold-related inactivity.

It’s also a pretty fallow time for new music, so I’ve been going through some of the albums that didn’t make my best albums of 2023 list, with The Iron Roses’ pop-punk protest music feeling like an album I’ll need to buy soon.

There have also been recommendations from social media friends to investigate. One of those, Sorry Mom’s album babyface, soundtracked a final, pre-Christmas, ‘what else did we forget’ visit to the supermarket. I only needed about four things, so could rise above the shopping madness unfolding all around me. Nevertheless, the New York-based queer punk band’s song ‘Hiccup’ in particular (“don’t say you’re sorry just go fuck yourself”) was a delightfully un-festive way to block out the Christmas music being played all around me.

Another recommended album that I expect I’ll have on heavy rotation this month was Home Front’s Games of Power, whose 80s synth-driven industrial punk (think: Suicide by way of The Cure or Echo and the Bunnymen). On ‘Nation’ they’re joined The Chisel’s singer Callum Graham, which should give you an idea of the harder edge to be found across the album. (And if your holidays were more of a chore than you’d hoped, I’d heartily recommend The Chisel’s ‘Fuck ‘Em’, off their forthcoming second album.)

The Christmas period also provided a useful period of reflection about my Substack.

It was set up to get me back into writing regularly, 2023 having a bit hit and miss for a variety of personal reasons. But, although the year often felt like I was wadding through treacle, I wrote plenty of which I’m proud.

These pieces included: a retrospective of Hüsker Dü’s Metal Circus; talking to Moby about punk rock and veganism; hearing from D.O.A.’s Joey Shithead about his friendship with Black Flag’s Chuck Dukowski; interviewing Blondie’s Clem Burke; and reviewing albums by Militarie Gun and Witching Waves, plus the California hardcore compilation Suburban Annihilation.

Actually, scrap that. Although last year didn’t quite go as I would have liked, it wasn’t all that bad.

But I want to do more this year – and have a hefty 80s US punk reading list to get through as part of that…

For Fire Red Sky, issues have come out every Tuesday - baring the Christmas break - since the newsletter was launched on 12 September and that will continue in 2024.

I’d also like to add some subscriber-only issues (are these issues or posts? I can’t quite get used to either yet), so you may see those start to appear over the year and I’ll probably start to add in some other regular types of posts.

In the meantime, before my resolutions and would-be revolutions become tarnished or pushed off course, here’s to the New Year.