From the Sire Vaults: The Rousers’ Long-Lost Summer Anthems
Rousers are finally getting their long-lost moment in the sun. Left For Dead Records—helmed by James Reynolds of Jimboco Records, the Independent Label Alliance, and Safe House fame—has dug deep into the vaults to drop 1979 Sire Session, a time capsule from Manhattan’s punk underbelly. Originally tracked in Sire’s basement studio on the Upper West Side with engineer Ed Stasium (fresh off gigs with the Ramones and Talking Heads), these demos catch the band in its purest form—loud, loose, and running on pure New York adrenaline.
Two cuts in particular feel like they’ve been waiting decades to jump out of the speakers. “Be My Girl” is pure pop-punk sugar rush—part Tommy James stomp, part Marshall Crenshaw sparkle—tight guitars jabbing and chiming while Jeff Buckland croons like he’s got nothing to lose. “Lonely Summer” leans into the bittersweet side of the Rousers’ sound, all chiming chords and wistful hooks, like the soundtrack to a teenage romance that ended just before Labor Day.
Back in ’79, Seymour Stein and Sire sniffed around but never signed the deal. These tracks—locked away for 45 years in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s Sire archives—prove that was punk history’s loss. Now restored and mixed with just the right balance of vintage grit and modern muscle, 1979 Sire Session finally puts the Rousers where they belong: blasting from your turntable with a beer in hand and the volume pegged.
1979 Sire Session lands October 14 on numbered black or translucent white 12” LP and as a 2-CD set with bonus tracks. Digital heads will have to wait until 2026 for the Bandcamp drop—but trust us, these two tracks alone make the vinyl worth snagging.
The Fire Note is an independent-music website that mixes record-store culture with lively, opinionated music journalism. It publishes: Album reviews and features – Covering indie-rock, punk, folk, experimental music, and underground scenes.
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