The Dublin punk, skinhead Oi! and hardcore scene in 1998 as featured by US Maximum Rocknroll fanzine (1982-2019). Lists bands, zines, venues & record shops. Strikniën D.C, Skint, Runnin’ Riot, Puget Sound, The old Chinaman, Eamon Doran’s, Freebird Records, Borderline, Comet etc. pic.twitter.com/0OUhUINOwY
— Come Here To Me! (@chtmdublin) January 12, 2022
1998.
It wasn’t all Boyzone, you know.
Oi!?
Great Gig Memories.
Punk concert stories.
From the Hope Collective
Andy Pipkin writes:
Wondering if you can give this book a plug in time for Christmas…These guys [Hope Collective] were responsible for bringing bands to Ireland in the 80s and 90s including the memorable Green Day in the Attic (on George’s Quay), how the floor upstairs in the venue didn’t collapse? and Babes In Toyland in The Cat And Cage (Capel Street). And who could forget, May 10, 1995 Venue: Ormond Multimedia Centre. Fugazi came to Dublin too play and it was a hot but cracking gig!
John Lydon
Blaise Gilburd writes:
I am currently studying Creative Writing at NUIG. Recently we had an assignment for which I wrote a poem tackling the sudden onslaught of ex-punks turning to right-wing politics.
Anyways, only this morning did I see the headline saying that now John Lydon of the Sex Pistols has endorsed Trump, so I like to think my poem has suddenly become quite topical. Although I did in fact dedicate it to Tony Parsons of NME fame…
Punk Song
for Tony Parson and the Aged Punk
Don’t stab his eye, just leave it alone,
why make such a big deal of it all?
The kids are too radical, the kids can’t make change,
revolution was so much simpler in the seventies.
Leave out rioting for the trees and the grass
I’ll rock out about this rising carbon tax,
just forget about any slow rising tides
and you know Boris really ain’t so bad.
London’s calling in too many artsy types
who loved this stunting European hole,
too many fell in love with something they shouldn’t’ve fallen in love with,
Jesus there’s just anarchy in the UK.
Someone needs to disarm these crazy ladies
with their wet ass body parts,
when did music get so crude and graphic,
where did all the poetry go?
Fuck those bloody fucking sops,
those big ol’ drifts of snowflakes,
offended by everything we used to say
when there was a good fight to fight.
Three chords was all we needed
to make an absolutely tone deaf song,
now when I rock I’ve Facebook on my lap,
“Thatcher was actually pretty Punk you know”
Pic: Rex
The Irish music community has always been tight-knit, perhaps drawn from a similarity in being left largely to its own devices, and that camaraderie has largely carried across genres. It’s extended to supporting one another at the most difficult of times, and unfortunately, this is another one of those occasions.
Wrote Windings on their Facebook last night:
Way back in 2002, Steve and Liam from windings were in a punk band called The Poke. They covered vocals and drums respectively. Also in the band were Con (guitar/vox), Fiona (bass), and Mickey (guitar/vox). The Poke were a great band!
Recently, we were shocked and saddened to to hear that Mickey has got cancer. He’s going through treatment at the moment, and is keeping very positive. However, as you can imagine, this is a very challenging and costly time for Mickey, Fiona, and their two little kids Seamus (2) and Aoibhinn (6 months).
A ‘demo’ was recorded and released by The Poke in a very small quantity in 2002. It was called Eat, F*ck, Die, and it’s pretty damn good. It hasn’t been available anywhere since then, so we thought it’d be a nice idea to upload it to Bandcamp now, so folks can give a few bob and have a listen. All monies received will go straight to Mickey and Fiona’s PayPal to help out a small bit with their current situation.
Even if this isn’t your thing musically, we’d very much appreciate you sharing this post as far and wide as possible, we know that Mickey, Fiona and family will be so appreciative.
Available for streaming and purchase on a donation basis in the widget above.
Touts – punk rock from Derry
What you may need to know…
01. What’s that, you say? Handsome boys in jumpers from Derry City playing enthusiastic rock ‘n’ roll? That’ll be Touts, then.
02. Riffing on the obvious NI punk comparisons, the lads take that energy and give it a modern, more aggro take on the classic power-chord sound.
03. Streaming above is Sold Out, the band’s new single. Shouted-out today on Nialler9, the lads are releasing an E.P. soon on Hometown, the label that’s currently giving us Rejjie Snow among others.
04. Belfast locals can catch the band while they can, this August on the 23rd, playing alongside Blossoms at Customs House Square. They’re supporting some UK pop band or other.
Thoughts: Is yer man Fergal Sharkey or Joe Strummer? He is neither, but these lads are great, making an earnest callback to grittier times without leaning too hard on its clichés.
Sissy – Dublin agitpop punk trio
What you may need to know…
01. Lo-fi, noisy and aggressive, precisely the way agitpop ought to be. That’s Sissy in a nutshell, a pissed-off, Sleater-Kinney-riffing outfit grappling with gender inequality and other issues facing women in Irish society.
02. September 2014 saw the release of the band’s debut extended-player on cassette, featuring pro-choice anthem Sail and Rail, followed by 2015 EP Gave Birth to a Mum.
03. Streaming above is the latter, also available for download and physical purchase on 7″ from their Bandcamp.
04. Also available for pre-order is Put Ears on Yourself Vol.1, a split single releasing soon via Art for Blind Records, featuring the band’s new track Nice Guy, an affront to “nice guy” syndrome and the privilege that accompanies.
Thoughts: The kind of band our society needs at a time when there’s still a fair amount of bullshit, both current and legacy, to be speaking up against.
Jogging – Dublin post-hardcore lads back from a break
What you may need to know…
01. At last, an excuse to talk about Jogging, a power-trio with a deft way with riffing, alongside belted, barking vocals.
02. While Minutes, released in 2010 on the sadly-missed Richter Collective label/co-op, came in for critical acclaim, its follow-up Take Courage truly shines as one of the best albums of the current of Irish music, a collection of taut, whipcrack broadsides.
03. Streaming above is a live performance from 2012 for the Practice Tapes webseries, where the lads perform Take Courage standout Stand Still with no frills or extras.
04. Appearing next, for the first time in a bit, alongside No Spill Blood and Horse at the Bello Bar on March 31st.
Thoughts: Math-rock-friendly hardcore, with indie-pop sensibilities. If you think that sounds convoluted, just dig in.
Ganglions – math-pop-punk with a Cork accent via Sheffield
What you may need to know…
01. Based in Sheffield, but sporting a pronounced Cork accent via vocalist Eimear O’Donovan, as well as drummery from Clonakilty man Brian Scally, Ganglions’ crossovers of pop, punk and math-rock make for a busy noise.
02. Eagle-eyed Irish music observers may remember O’Donovan from her time with Cork pop band KVX, and her memorable contributions to Bantum’s first album, on singles Oh My Days, and alongside Owensie on Roll Pt. 2.
03. Streaming above is the band’s self-released debut E.P., FETCH!, put out in February of last year and available for streaming and download.
04. The band plays Quarter Block Party, on the first weekend of February. Time and venue to be confirmed on release of the festival’s brochure. This follows their Irish debut at Cork’s Fred Zeppelin’s in December, in support of Terriers.
Thoughts: Bright, bristling, surfy, tappy, intricate, high-energy power.
