Fire Party were an emotional hardcore band

Emo

Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...

 from Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 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).

Amy Pickering had been involved in the D.C. hardcore

Washington, D.C. hardcore

Washington, D.C. has had one of the first and most influential hardcore punk scenes in the United States since the early 1980s.Among the earliest DC punk bands were the Bad Brains, Slickee Boys, Teen Idles, Minor Threat, S.O.A., Chalk Circle, Velvet Monkeys, Void, The Faith, DC Youth Brigade,...

 scene as a high school student at Woodlawn High. She then went on to work at Dischord Records

Dischord Records

Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in the independent punk music of the D.C.-area music scene. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release Minor Disturbance by The Teen Idles...

. On her first day of work there, she tore down a sign that said "No Skirts Allowed".

Fire Party released a six-song self-titled EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, an eight-song album and a complete discography on Dischord. They played some Midwest shows with Scream

Scream (band)

Scream is a hardcore punk band from Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia active from 1981 to 1990. As of 2009, the band has reunited to play several shows.-Biography:...

, and in early 1988, they toured Europe with them.

Despite their small discography, Fire Party, along with related "Revolution Summer

Revolution Summer

Revolution Summer may refer to:* Revolution Summer , a film directed by Miles Montalbano* Revolution Summer , a soundtrack album by Jonathan Richman...

" bands like Embrace

Embrace (U.S. band)

Embrace was a short-lived post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C., which lasted from the summer of 1985 to the spring of 1986 and was one of the first bands to be dubbed in the press as emotional hardcore, though the members had rejected the term since its creation...

 and Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring was an American post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. in the mid-1980s, known for their energetic live performances. A part of the D.C. hardcore punk scene, Rites of Spring increased the frenetic violence and visceral passion of hardcore while simultaneously experimenting with...

, had a lasting influence on the artistic direction of American punk. Apart from being an all-female band, a rarity in hardcore punk music, drummer Nicky Thomas was also one of the few African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 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. It led to events like the punk percussion protest which protested Apartheid in South Africa and President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

. Tomas Squip of Beefeater

Beefeater (band)

Beefeater was an American post-hardcore band from late 1984 until 1986. Formed by Tomas Squip, Fred "Freak" Smith, Dug E. Bird and Bruce Atchley Taylor, they were pioneers of the post-hardcore genre and the Revolution Summer which took place in the Washington D.C. hardcore in the mid-'80s with...

 credited Pickering with "setting a season into motion."

External links

• Fire Party page on Southern Records
  Southern Records
  Southern Records is an independent record label closely associated with Crass Records, Corpus Christi Records and Dischord Records. It is based in London and previously had offices in Chicago , Le Havre and Berlin .Southern was originally a recording studio owned and operated by John Loder...