Hope Show 140 – the Playlist
This weeks hope show available here
1. The Ramones – Beat On The Brat
2. Iron Chic – You Can’t STay Safe
3. Chewing On Tinfoil – Cutting Room Floor
4. Jawbreaker – Chesterfield King
5. Dark Thoughts – Identity Crisis
6. Against Me – Reinventing Axl Rose
7. Weakerthans – Anchorless
8. THe Mob – Another Day, Another Death
9. Mike Watt and J Mascis – What We Do Is Secret
10. Team Dresch – THe Council
11. Latterman – He’s a good sposato (i love ya blue boy)
12. The Ruts – Starin’ at the Rude Boys
13. THe Newtown Neurotics – Livin With Unemployment
14. Allo Darlin’ – Neil Armstrong
15. Menstrual Cramps – Smash
16. Fire Party – Cake
Hope Show 140; the lowdown
Another show tonight where I pick bands who have changed a life. Mine. When I saw these play live i felt the surge of music and the excitment of being in a room with people i don’t know but are comrades for the night. Listening to songs that are mainly talking abot making the world a better place. The energy grabs you deep inside and makes you smile and move. It transforms me from the introverted shy man to a slowly moving blubbering fool. I love music, it means something to me and these bands are part of my world,
I saw the ramones in the tv club in Dublin,. It wasn’t their first visit to the city but it was my first time to see them. They played 2 nights in a row and in between had a signing session in Comet Records. After the first gig I said I need to get to Comet to see them. Of course the signing in the record shop was on in the afternoon and I had work to get through. I set off on my bike at 8am and bid farewell to my folks as I headed to work and took the first turn left instead of right. Straight into town for the day. I spent all day walking around in anticipation of seeing the Ramones in Comet Records. It was a bizarre day as I didn’t know what to do or where to go. I was supposed to be in AnCo learning to be an electrician instead i was attending my punk rock class. After what seemed like an eternity I went to Comet to see what was going on. Da budders were there signing autographs. Of course I had nothing for them to sign and in reality had no interest in getting someone to sign a page. I just went into Comet and flicked through the records as people went up to get bis and pieces signed. I looked, kept staring and the picture is ingrained in my mind. I guess it would have been nice to go up, say hi and have a memento but my memories are still there.
I saw Iron Chic last year in new York. I knew one person there but felt completely at home enveloped in the noise and songs of Iron Chic. I had been wanting to see them for a good few years so when I heard they were playing I was very excited and they didn’t disappoint
I’ve seen Chewing on Tinfoil a few times and like many irish bands they tend to be ignore by those of us living here. We know we can see them again and will get another chance to buy their records. Their shows are one big family re-union a safe and welcoming space for all,
When Jawbreaker played Dublin in 1992 I felt that I had seen all the bands I needed to see. This was it, the culmination of it all. I love this record, it brings me right back to those gigs. Amazing band
Dark Thoughts were new to me when I seen them in Brighton a couple of years ago I walked into the Cowley Club wondering what the night held in store and walked out amazed by the evening’s events. Such energy and abandon.
Brighton was also the place where I first saw Against Me and at the end of their gig I was ready to take on whioever, whenever. Incredible energy and togetherness that night.
I travelled to Manchester to see the Weakerthans. I love the intelligence of their songs. I wasn’t expecting the gig to be as good but i was absorbed by the beauty of it.
I have been listening to the Mob since they came on to my radar with their no doves fly here 7″. Their Let The Tribe Increase album is one of those records that capture the mood of a disaffected nation, sombre and dark. When I saw them in Rebellion I felt i was right back in those 1980’s days. Brilliant
Mike Watt has been constantly putting out classic songs and collobarations. I saw him play in Whelans and just stared at him for the night. With a huge smile on my face. This track is a Germs song he has done with J Mascis from Dinosaur Jnr.
Team Dresch played Dublin with Bikini Kill and Bis. The queues were around the corner at 2pm when we had to open the doors that Saturday afternoon. Three bands who existed to provide inspiration to others to go out, say something and be in a band. Inspirational stuff.
When Latterman played the Lower Deck in Portobello I didn’t know a whole lot about them. I found out by the end of the show that their sing-a-long anthemic punk rock was a joy.
I wrote about Malcolm Owens death in my first fanzine in 1984. I loved the Ruts then and still do now. I will never forget the night I had the opportunity to see them in Rebellion a few years ago. They were heavily dubbed influenced but i was privileged to be in the room. Their acoustic shows are joyous occasions and if you ever get the chance then share in them.
I wrote about the Newown Neurotices in another early zine, and even wrote to the band a few times. They were close to coming over to play with Attilla the Stockbroker but didn’t make it due to the cost of ferry travel. They subsequently made it a few years back but my first trip to rebellion festival was to see the Neurotics. I’ve been back to the festival every year since but that introduction was special. As was the night I saw them in Cambridge with the Wild Hearted Outsider from this parish.
I caught the sweet pop songs of Allo Darlin’ in the Lexington in London and fell in love with that sound. It reminded me of when I saw Heavenly or heard Talulah Gosh. Just so nice.
Menstrual Cramps on the other hand challenged me as a listener and as a man at their gig. Not me personally but everyone their. They don’t exist for entertainment, they are here to challenge and provoke. I love that at a gig.
Finally I travelled to London to see Fire Party. Wild hearted outsider lived over there at the time and we travelled to what seemed like the middle of nowhere to see this DC band and i caught an introductory glimpse of the DIY world I was to live in over the next 32 years
