Weekly digest #47

Featuring Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins, Silversun Pickups, Radiohead, Jimmy Eat World, Home Front and more

📷 Ian MacKaye and Henry Rollins (with Dez Cadena in the mirror) in London on Black Flag’s first UK tour in 1981 by Spot

Welcome to Fire Red Sky’s latest weekly digest of punk rock, alt rock and indie music news and writing.

It’s a light read, a quick catch up on the week that lands with you every Sunday morning (and, given that things are been a little all over the place for a while, you can be as surprised as me that this week it’s actually on time).

The links are mainly taken from my social media feeds, so if you want more of this sort of thing than you can follow me on Facebook, Threads, Bluesky and Mastodon (I’m also on Instagram).

Headlines

Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye have made a new record together (Brooklyn Vegan). Excitement builds for a ‘Minor Flag’ type collaboration, then Rollins clarifies neither he or MacKaye feature on the new record (Stereogum).

The Cure reveal concert film, Show of a Lost World (The Quietus)

Melissa Auf der Maur to release memoir (Punk News)

Silversun Pickups announce new album and unveil its first single ‘The Wreckage’ (Consequence of Sound)

Grammys 2026: Best Rock Album nominees incl. Turnstile and Deftones (Consequence); Best Metal Performance incl. Turnstile (Consequence) and Best Alternative Album incl. The Cure and Hayley Williams (Consequence)

New releases

The Iron Roses release video for ‘Fight Back’ (Punk News)

Scottish punk duo Bratakus release ‘Turnstile’ single (with The Hives‘ Chris Dangerous on drums) and announce Hagridden album (The Punk Site)

Houston psych-funk trio Khruangbin surprise-release new album The Universe Smiles Upon You II (Pitchfork)

Philadelphia shoegazers Nothing announce new album A Short History of Decay and share new song ‘Cannibal World’ (Brooklyn Vegan)

84 Days (feat. members of Pennywise, No Doubt and The Vandals) release self-titled debut album (The Punk Site)

Listen/watch

New skateboarding documentary features Zack de la Rocha, Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, Ray Barbee, Jeff Ament and more (Brooklyn Vegan)

Radiohead play their first show in seven years -setlist, video (Brooklyn Vegan)

Jimmy Eat World tease Loud EP with new song (Spin)

Foo Fighters cover Minor Threat’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Hear It’ at intimate pop-up show (Brooklyn Vegan)

Perry Farrell returns to stage after Jane’s Addiction split for The Doors’ 60th anniversary show (NME)

Long reads

‘I took mushrooms before my audition’: Smiths drummer Mike Joyce on wild gigs, Marr’s jim-jams and Morrissey’s genius (The Guardian)

Dave Navarro looks back on “backlash” to replacing John Frusciante in Red Hot Chili Peppers and the “disconnect” he felt from the band (NME)

The Charlatans on grief, love, and why they keep going (Spin)

Home Front interview - Through the Chaos (Treblezine)

Maxïmo Park on 20 years of A Certain Trigger and ‘indie sleaze’: “I was an idiot! But that’s part of life” (NME)

Elsewhere on Substack

In the ‘00s Fluxblog, and a handful of other MP3 blogs, were my gateways to new music at a time when I’d stopped avidly listening to the radio or reading the music press, but streaming had yet to emerge. (This also seems like a good moment to shout out

Matthew Perpetua

’s R.E.M. blog Pop Songs, in which he wrote about almost every R.E.M. song released between 1981 and 2007.)

Fluxblog 573: 90s alt-rock golden greats

And finally…

Brian Gorsegner, singer of New Jersey punk band Night Birds, wins local election (Punk News)

Do you have a Substack article, news tip or other piece of writing you’d like to be considered for the digest? Send it to tangleofwires@gmail.com (same goes for press releases etc.)