Fire Hazard Records releases new indie compilation to benefit Reclaim Philadelphia

Earlier this week, young Philly label Fire Hazard Records announced the release of Flammable Music for Flammable People: Vol. 1, a compilation tape to benefit Reclaim Philadelphia, out Friday, September 4th. The tape features a whole host of local indie artists — Carly Cosgrove, El Niño and the Monsoons, Beach Bully, Another Hospital, Mechanical Canine, Precious Little Life, JoJo Reed, and Breakfast for Turtles — as well as friends from out of town — The Big Easy, The Jins, Think Machine, Palamino — each contributing an unreleased version of a past song.

Every track on the new tape is either stripped down, recorded live, or alternative in its own unique way, and the jumble of different recording styles throughout the 12 tracks makes a top-to-bottom listen especially memorable. The roster brings plenty of stylistic variety, too, with shades of emo, indiecore, psych-pop, and more. Some highlights include Beach Bully’s dreamy rendition of “Race” from their 2019 album Pulse, Carly Cosgrove’s piano ballad version of “Not My Job,” off their EP from last year, and Mechanical Canine’s “Stuck [Computer Edition],” now filled out with bubbling drum machines, which originally came out on Good Photography in February.

According to label founder Jonathon Herroon (also a member of Mechanical Canine), he and Maciej Lewicki (Think Machine) began collecting alternate versions of their friends’ songs early in the spring, and then the murder of George Floyd and the Philadelphia uprisings inspired them to utilize the collection to raise money in support of racial justice organizing in Philadelphia. On account of their ongoing work battling structural racism, Herroon chose to commit the proceeds to Reclaim Philadelphia, the activist group formed in 2016 who recently championed successful primary campaigns by Philly politicians Nikil Saval and Rick Krajewski.

Herroon founded Fire Hazard in 2019, and describes the outfit as “heavily inspired by the almost anti-capitalist approach bands like Bomb the Music Industry! and Fugazi have taken to existing in the music business. All my profits are split 50/50, artist/label — with all label funds being put back into whatever the next release is. Basically I wanted to start a label to help my friends out.”

Flammable Music for Flammable People: Vol. 1 is available now on Bandcamp and on tape. Find the full tracklist below.

1) Carly Cosgrove – Not My Job [Piano] 
2) The Big Easy – Lipstick Covered Beers [Stripped Down] 
3) El Nino and the Monsoons – Birthday [Alternate Version] 
4) Beach Bully – Race [Acoustic] 
5) Another Hospital – Follow Me To The River [Live] 
6) The Jins – Drug Store [Demo]
7) Mechanical Canine – Stuck [Computer Edition] 
8) Think Machine – Bones [Lo-Fi] 
9) Palamino – Tip Of My Tongue [Comp Version] 
10) Precious Little Life – Mephisto [Full(er) Band] 
11) JoJo Reed – Little Bird [Full Band] 
12) Breakfast for Turtles – No Sleep For Vampires [Alternate]