Fire Party

Fire Party were a band from Washington, D.C. They were together from the autumn of 1986 to the spring of 1990. The band members were Amy Pickering (vocals), Natalie Avery (guitar), Kate Samworth (bass), and Nicky Thomas (drums).[1]

History

Amy Pickering had been involved in the D.C. hardcore scene as a high school student at H-B Woodlawn.[2] She then went on to work at Dischord Records. On her first day of work there, she tore down a sign that said "No Skirts Allowed".[3]

Fire Party released a six-song self-titled mini-LP, an eight-song album (New Orleans Opera) while together. They played some Midwest shows with Scream, and in early 1988, they toured Europe with them and also supported That Petrol Emotion.[1][4] While in Europe, they recorded a session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show.[5]

A compilation of the tracks from their two albums plus their Peel session and "Pilate" from the State of the Union compilation was released by Dischord in 1996.[1][6]

Despite their small discography, Fire Party, along with related "Revolution Summer" bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring, had a lasting influence on the artistic direction of American punk.[7] Apart from being an all-female band, a rarity in hardcore punk music at the time, drummer Nicky Thomas was also one of the few African American women involved in the hardcore punk music scene.

"Revolution Summer" had been a phrase Pickering used in notes she sent out to people to reflect "a climax, the end of something" and to re-inspire punks in D.C.[8] It led to events like the punk percussion protest which protested Apartheid in South Africa and President Ronald Reagan. Tomas Squip of Beefeater credited Pickering with "setting a season into motion."[9]

Discography
  • Fire Party mini-LP (May 1988), Dischord
  • New Orleans Opera mini-LP/cassette (October 1989), Dischord
Compilations
  • Fire Party CD (October 1996), Dischord - compiles both albums with five additional tracks

Notes
  1. Strong, p. 333
  2. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 92
  3. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 141
  4. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 252
  5. "17/10/1989 - Fire Party", Keeping It Peel, BBC. Retrieved March 23, 2013
  6. Kellman, Andy "Fire Party Biography", Allmusic. Retrieved March 23, 2013
  7. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 230, 231, 237
  8. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 173, 209
  9. Andersen & Jenkins 2001 p. 182

References
  • Andersen, Mark; Jenkins, Mark (2001), Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital, New York, NY: Akashic Books, ISBN 1-888451-44-0, archived from the original on 2012-09-22
  • Strong, Martin C. (2003) The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0
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