April 16^th

You can hear this episode on Mixcloud or email me if you want a download.

Gil Scott-Heron - 'B' Movie

Dublin Drag Orchestra - Cold Cold Heart ☘

Kiki & Herb - No Children

Alton Ellis - La La Means I Love You

Patrik Fitzgerald - Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart ☘

Uptight Dad - I Know ☘

Adore - Postcards ☘

Chumbawamba - This Dress Kills

Chumbawamba - Salomé

Rural Hate! - Hate! ☘

Problem Patterns - Song For Fi ☘

Buzzcocks - I Don't Mind

The Radiators - Love Detective ☘

The Plugz - La Bamba

Notes:

Bands whose songs I cut for time: Amy & The Angels, Downtown Boys, Malportado Kids, Fifth Column, The Tearjerkers ☘, Stalag 17 ☘.

I also had another Kiki & Herb song I was going to play at the very end, but I ran out of time.

Rural Hate! are on bandcamp.

Number of confirmed listeners to this episode: 1.

The noise I kept hearing in the background was Radio France International, which was playing at very low volume through the headphones but thankfully couldn't be heard on playback.

I might do a pre-recorded episode next week as the work is piling up. Will let you know.

April 9^th

Mixcloud recording is available here. If you want an MP3 you can email me.

Tracklist:

The Fatima Mansions - Only Losers Take The Bus ☘

The Fatima Mansions - Valley of the Dead Cars ☘

Horslips - Motorway Madness ☘

Kiki and Herb - The Pina Colada Song, Institutionalized (Suicidal Tendencies cover)

Anohni - It's All Over Now, Baby Blue ☘

Toxic Waste - Belfast/Plastic Bullets ☘

Toxic Waste - Listen Margaret ☘

The Hit Parade - Here's What You Find In Any Prison ☘

Uptight Dad - I Know ☘

Problem Patterns - Song For Fi ☘

Problem Patterns - I'm Fine & I'm Doing Great ☘

Dexys Midnights Runners - Keep It ☘

Touch Excellent - Overtone ☘

Gil Scott-Heron - 'B' Movie

Notes:

Musicians I didn't get around to playing tonight: Getachew Mekurya and the Ex, Gina Young, Oi Polloi, Cuddly Toys.

The musical bed during the news was "The Teams That Meet In Caffs" by Dexys Midnight Runners.

For much more about the very interesting Hit Parade, see the great Spit Records website.

April 2nd

You can listen to this episode on Mixcloud or email me for a download.

Tracklist:

The Raincoats - Lola (Kinks cover)

The Kinks - Where Have All The Good Times Gone?

Jackie Shane - Stand Up Straight & Tall

The Chocolate Watch Band - I'm Not Like Everybody Else (Kinks cover)

Éire Apparent - Yes I Need Someone ☘

Jayne County and the Back Street Boys - Max's Kansas City 1976

Binky Philips & The Planets - Drinking Gasoline

The Undertones - You've Got My Number ☘

The Count Five - Declaration of Independence ☘

Chris Spedding - Wild In The Streets (Garland Jeffreys cover)

Survival Horror - Ode to Olson ☘

Spider - Dancing In The Street ☘

Big Tears - Leather Jacket Boy ☘

Big Tears - The Ride ☘

Sissy - Attack (Blitz cover) ☘

Problem Patterns - Tethered ☘

Gender Warfare - Queers to the Front

Gil Scott-Heron - Whitey on the Moon

The Soft Pink Truth - Protest and Survive (Discharge cover)

Notes:

This programme was based on a conversation I had on Tuesday with one of my friends. I can explain it if you want, but I'm not sure if it'll make sense. Basically, Tuesday was Trans Day of Visibility, Moby recently criticized the Kinks for being transphobic and Jayne County slapped him down, plus the contributions of Irish people to garage rock and the influence of garage rock on Irish trans and queer punk.

Cut for time: Anohni - You Be Free Now, Mott the Hoople - Roll Away the Stone, and Touch Excellent - Overtone.

For once I played all the bands I said I would in the promotional material. It may never happen again.

I used this website to generate the automated announcements.

For the story of how the Undertones accidentally helped the Chocolate Watch Band get their royalties, see their website.

March 26^th: An interview with Mark from L.M.F.A.O

You can listen to a recording of this episode here or email me if you need a download for personal use.

Tracklist:

Spizzenergi - Where's Captain Kirk (not Flying Saucer Attack)

The Rezillos - Flying Saucer Attack

Post Punk Podge & The Technohippies - NEU!wave! ☘

Post Punk Podge & The Technohippies - U.F.O.L.F.O (from Transmissions From The GPO) ☘

Telefís - Space Is Us (excerpt) ☘

David Bowie - Quicksand

Codeye - Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (Demo) (from the Gouig Shed Demos ☘

Nun Attax - Alyunt ☘

Joe Meek - I Hear A New World

Notes:

Visit L.M.F.A.O online here.

Mark mentioned the John Foley Prized Band, you can visit them online here.

Visit the Limerick Adjacent Online Network of WebUsers here.

The sudden burst of music you heard at the start of the show while I was having problems getting anything to play was the Travelling Wilburys (someone had left Spotify open in another tab).

No, they did not take me out the back of the station and beat me to death. Which is a good thing, because there's a crèche there and my bloated corpse would have been an unwelcome surprise for the kids in the morning.

☘ 🛸 ☘ 🛸

March 19^th: Amnesty Week

Listen to this week's episode on the Near FM mixcloud! Or email me you if need a download.

Playlist:

The Passion Killers - Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag

The Saints - Know Your Product

The Mekons - Empire of the Senseless

The Mekons - Psycho Cupid (Danceband on the edge of time)

Peer Pleasure - Take It ☘

Big Joanie - Fall Asleep

Extravision - Our City ☘

Big Joanie - No Scrubs

Adore - Postcards ☘

CMAT - Running/Planning ☘

Teddy & The Frat Girls - I Owe It To The Girls

Alien She - Goodbye 8 ☘

Sissy - Not In My Head ☘

Special Guest - The New VR Ted Bundy Biopic ☘

Panik Attaks - Save My Soul ☘

Notes:

Bands I was going to play but didn't: One Minute Silence, The Soft Pink Truth.

Belfast Zine Fair: applications open!

Razorcake.org and When Horns Are Okay

That very interesting event commemorating Carnsore at the Project Arts Centre

Here's the article criticizing that survey of Gen Z men. Unfortunately you have to give them your email before you can read it, but some key points:

"the “Gen Z man” being referred to in this study exists everywhere and nowhere at once. He is completely independent of cultural norms, societal norms, education levels, wealth, politics. He is an impossibility that you are being asked to judge. Even worse, the methodology notes that only 16 of the 29 countries have a sample size that is representative of the actual demographics of those places"[...] As researcher John San Nicolas points out, Ipsos uses an opt-in online survey which puts it at risk of getting responses from those who are a) very online, and b) interested in ‘gender discourse’"

So, while many men have pathetic views about gender, this is the equivalent of surveying the denizens of a Call of Duty lobby about women's rights.

March 12^th: St Patrick's Day

You can listen to this episode here on the Near FM Mixcloud. If you need a download: email me.

Tracklist:

Sinéad O'Connor - War

Stiff Little Fingers - Johnny Was

The Pogues - Thousands Are Sailing (live in London, 1990)

The Count Five - Psychotic Reaction

The Radiators - Gloria (live, 1987)

The Undertones - Get Over You

Sissy - Attack

The Atrix - Treasure On The Wasteland

Rudi - I Spy

Ruefrex - One By One

Telefís - The Carthaginians

Post Punk Podge - The Gay Byrne Funk

The Fatima Mansions - Valley of the Dead Cars

Jinx Lennon - Nothin' But A Leprechaun

Problem Patterns - I'm Fine And I'm Doing Great

Notes:

Number of bands I said I'd play that I actually played: 3/6

I never got around to mentioning it on air, but The Count Five were included because their lead singer, John Byrne, was a recent arrival from Dublin to San Jose. They got him to call himself Seán because it seemed more exotic.

I also never got around to mentioning it on air, but the Prairieland Trial heard closing arguments this week. Des Revol, one of the defendants, was given conspiracy charges for moving a box of zines after a protest. Visit freedes.net, le do thoil.

Any information on the Eyre Street Arkestra would be very welcome.

Any information about why they call Seachtain na Gaeilge Seachtain na Gaeilge when it's actually two weeks, not one week, is also welcomed. Is Coicís na Gaeilgereally so much less catchy?

A very mid-tempo show this week. I promise we'll turn the temperature up with more hardcore and truly vicious punk soon...

5^th of March - International Women's Day/Women's History Month Special

Give this a listen on the Near FM Mixcloud or email me for a download.

Tracklist:

The Bags - Babylonian Gorgon (1978)

The Raincoats - Fairytale In The Supermarket (1979)

Kleenex - Ain't You (1978)

Patti Smith - My Generation (1976)

Patti Smith - Redondo Beach (1975)

The Bodysnatchers - Easy Life (1980)

Vital Disorders - (Let's Talk About) Prams (1981)

Poison Girls - I'm Not A Real Woman (1984)

Crass - Poison In A Pretty Pill (1981)

Lost Cherrees - Living In A Coffin (1984)

Lost Cherrees - Sexism's Sick (1984)

Poison Girls - Mandy Is Having A Baby (1982)

Chumbawamba - Fade Away (I Don't Want To Fade Away) (2005)

She/Her/Hers - Gender Is Boring (2018)

Pink Turds In Space - Teenage Kicks (1990?) ☘

Surge - Witchfinder (2016) ☘

Special Guest - The New VR Ted Bundy Biopic (2026)

M(h)aol - Gender Studies (2021) ☘

Gender Chores - Legisl8 (2019) ☘

Sissy ft. Radie Peat - Sail and Rail (2017) ☘

Notes:

I accidentally said Sail and Rail was about the "push for the 8th amendment". It is very much about the push against the 8th amendment, which enshrined the right to life of the unborn child in the Irish constitution from 1983 to 2018.

You should watch the very good music video for that song.

My comments about this episode on Mastodon.

That Guardian article reporting on the pathetic delusions of Gen Z men

"Almost a quarter (24%) of gen Z males think women should not appear too independent or self-sufficient, compared with 12% of baby boomer men. [...] Attitudes toward sexual norms also differed sharply across generations, with 21% of gen Z males thinking a “real woman” should never initiate sex [...] Thirty percent of gen Z males believed men should not say “I love you” to their friends

Under The Pavement Radio, who recently interviewed the author of a book about the Poison Girls

February 26^th - LGBT+ History Month Special

Listen to this episode on the Near FM Mixcloud! If you need a download, email me and I'll send you the file.

Míle buíochas to Robin from Survival Horror, who made lots of great UK queer HC suggestions, most of which I wasn't able to fit into the show.

Track listing:

Patti Smith - Gloria

The Radiators From Space - Faithful Departed ☘

Tom Robinson Band - Up Against The Wall

Sister George - 100 x No (Glad To Be Gay)

Chant! Chant! Chant! - Quicksand ☘

Nun Attax - Looking For Words For My Book ☘

Lou Reed - America

Lou Reed - Kill Your Sons

Problem Patterns - Song For Fi ☘

Surge - Avalanche ☘

Strong Boys - Pink Death ☘

Limp Wrist - Limp Wrist

Homomilitia - Policja

Chumbawamba - Smash Clause 28!

Gender Warfare - Queers To The Front

Notes:

LOU REED: They put the thing down your throat so you don't swallow your tongue, and they put electrodes on your head. That's what was recommended in Rockland County then to discourage homosexual feelings. The effect is that you lose your memory and become a vegetable. You can't read a book because you get to page seventeen and have to go right back to page one again.

To view Eoin Freeney's lecture from the Philip Chevron Summer School, go here.

For more information about Dylan Scholinski's experience with psychiatrically-mandated conversion therapy in 1980s America, go here or here.

For more information about Sophie Gwen Williams, who I think is the subject of "Song For Fi", see the Trans Day of Remembrance website.

My comments about the episode on Mastodon.

Number of bands featured in the promotional material who appeared in the final playlist: 5/7

Number of bands I said I'd finally play this week but I didn't: 2

"I'm trying to travel too much territory here..."

February 19^th 2026: PUNC Returns

You can hear a recording of this episode here, from when it was repeated in April 2026. Finally you can judge for yourself if I was speaking too close to the microphone. If you need a download, email me and I'll send you the file.

Tracklist:

☘ Problem Patterns - I Think You Should Leave (2024)

SNFU - The Devil's Voice (1986)

Downtown Boys - Monstro (2015)

Downtown Boys - Dancing In The Dark (2015/1984)

Bruce Springsteen - Streets of Minneapolis (2026)

☘ Radiators From Space - Television Screen [live] (1987)

☘ Peer Pleasure - Shed Residents (2026)

☘ Peer Pleasure - Rest In Bits (2024)

Bikini Kill - Suck My Left One (1991)

Bikini Kill - Tony Randall (1996)

☘ SYMPOS - Up To Speed (2021)

☘ CHERYM - Gone Girl (2021)

MDC - Born To Die (1982)

Dogs - Gotta Tell Her (1979)

MDC - I Do Not Wish (19??)

☘ Radiators From Space - Television Screen, Encore [live] (1987)

Show notes:

I got a request for a song by Adore or the Pills but for boring technical reasons I wasn't able to play the song I picked this week. I will play it next week!

Number of bands featured in the promotional material who appeared in the final playlist: 5/9.

The live Radiators tracks are from Dollar For Your Dreams Explanded, a great 1987 live Radiators album that got rereleased in the autumn of 2024, just after I stopped doing the PUNC show for a while! I hope to play some more tracks from it in the future. There's a 7 minute version of Faithful Departed on there that's an absolute knockout.

And finally, here are some of the notes I made while I was putting together this episode:

"We have to make our own culture & we have to keep remaking it as they try to co-opt it. OK??? OK!!!"

"Why do you think the Irish government supplies so much arts funding? It's not just because the arts contribute so much €€€ to the Irish economy, although it IS to keep you thinking that the point of art is to add value to the Irish economy. It is a BRIBE to artists.

(The phrase "so much" removed because on reflection I don't know how much arts funding the Irish government supplies either per capita or in comparison with equivalent European nations)

"We're coming at 2026 with a pessimism of the intellect but an optimism of the will + a belief that we can be better and our communities can be better."

"The Irish music scene is at risk of becoming self-satisfied. It risks being complacent. It risks feeding back into + benefiting the systems it's supposedly against"

/end cod-situationist blather.