Philadelphia-based band Fire In The Radio are excited to release the reissue of their debut album Red Static Action out on January 16 on Wednesday Records (pre-order). The album features two previously unreleased tracks “Hide the Knives” and “Prairie,” that serve as the start of a new chapter of the band. Red Static Action along with the bonus tracks have been remastered (and the bonus tracks remixed) by Jesse Gander (Japandroids, White Lung, Dave Hause). In anticipation of the release, “Prairie” is streaming at Punk Rock Theory and will be on all streaming platforms on Friday for playlist shares.
The seeds for Fire in the Radio were planted long before their 2020 acclaimed record Monuments, or their prior efforts on New Air (2017) or Telemetry (2015). Rather, before reforming in 2013, the band got its start late one summer evening in the early aughts on the front porch of 428 W. Nittany in State College, Pennsylvania. That evening, Rich Carbone (singer/guitarist) was hosting a low key gathering of college students and was introduced to Jonathan Miller (singer/guitarist). Recognizing their shared interest in 90’s indie rock, the two located some guitars and held up for the remainder of the evening trading ideas.
Miller, who had separately been playing with Edward Olsen (bass), suggested the three of them connect and Fire in the Radio was born. Taking their name from a line in the Charles Burkowski poem, Regard Me, the members set about finding a drummer.
Responding to a flyer at the local record store, Adam Caldwell (drums), knocked on the W. Nittany door while out for a run. Though the band was initially skeptical given his track attire, it was soon revealed that Caldwell’s love of running was merely a foil to counterbalance his exhaustive smoking habit. And, as it turned out, Caldwell, who hailed from the Richmond punk scene, was also an excellent drummer.
At the time of Caldwell’s joining, the band had already agreed to serve as a recording project for fellow music engineering student, Mat Edgecomb. Caldwell quickly learned the songs and three weeks later the band assembled at Lebanon Valley College to record them.
Recorded live to tape with minimal overdubs, the ten (10) songs, played with youthful exuberance and off-kiltered vocals, captured the energy of the new band and the burgeoning emo scene. While the songs were initially only intended as a demo, their friend, Reed Smith, offered to release it and it became the band’s first album, titled “Red Static Action.”
Touring followed for the better part of a year until the band went on hiatus when members moved to various areas of the Country.
While only limited copies were pressed, they nevertheless found their way to college radio and various press outlets and even ended up on Abercrombie & Fitch website on their Top 10 playlist (for the track answering machine).
Years later, the blog Willfully Obscure aptly summed up the band’s freshman effort:
“Fire in the Radio were a little known turn-of-the-millennium outfit from State College, PA. This ever so slightly wet-behind-the-ears quartet bridged the gap between indie-rock and emo, putting them in league with contemporaries The Get Up Kids, Juliana Theory, and to a more negligible extent, Superchunk. Red Static Action may not have been particularly seismic, but it wielded the potential for a much more incendiary follow-up album – one that sadly never came to pass, for reasons unknown to myself. This fleeting ten-song disk appears to be the first and final word on Fire in the Radio.”
Upon seeing the review, the band questioned whether Red Static Action should indeed be the final word and agreed to meet up for a weekend in Washington, D.C. to play again. While searching for a rehearsal space, the band contacted the famed Inner Ear studios to see if they could recommend a place. Don Zientara (Fugazi) called them back and said, “Hey, the studio’s free if you want to rehearse here” and so they did.
While knocking the rust off and rehearsing at Inner Ear, the band found some new songs. Zientara popped his head in and said “Hey, those sounds pretty cool, do you want me to record them?” They proceeded to do so, just as they had before, live to tape with minimal overdubs. The tracks, titled “Hide the Knives” and “Prairie,” were previously unreleased and serve as the start of a new chapter and bonus tracks to this re-release.
Thoughts Words Action 