7 Seconds “New Wind” 1987. BYO Records (Better Youth Organization) (and produced by Ian MacKaye). This past weekend we were up in the Fox Valley to see a show and were chatting with the band about concert venues and the dearth of good all-ages options. It got me thinking back to the mid-to-late 80′s in the Green Bay/Appleton WI area and how many awesome all-ages punk shows we had available to us. Like 7 Seconds, a band I saw about a zillion times, including the one on the flyer pictured, probably around the time New Wind came out.

I forgot how much I like New Wind! I’ve always listened to their more hardcore 1986 Walk Together, Rock Together a lot more (their cover of “99 Red Balloons” on that album is absolutely killer), but so many tracks on New Wind remind me of those 80′s shows, full of melodic punk and moshing (well, I’d stand at the edge of the pit, hoping not to get stomped while elbowing the more obnoxious slammers back into the melee). Particularly awesome are “New Wind,” “Somebody Help Me Scream,” “The Inside,” “The Calendar” and “Still Believe.” It’s definitely not hardcore (though at times hard-edged) but rather infused with earnest youthful positivity (i.e. “Expect to Change”) and signature “whoa-whoa’s” sprinkled liberally throughout. So I guess I wasn’t that surprised to see in the liner notes the band’s thank-you to U2 “for inspiration” – certainly not musically but absolutely for tone and message.

Lyrics to “Expect to Change”

I keep thinking each and every day
Have I really made a difference, have I made things change?
In all these years of “growing up,” and “standing strong,”
Has it made a single dent with all that is so wrong?

[Chorus:] But if I haven’t done a thing for world affairs
At least I know I try and I’ll show that I care
‘Cause it’s me that has to make an effort
Or what can I expect to change
That’s where it starts, in myself
Not just shifting all the blame

And as I’m growin’ older, I can see the changes
Yet history ain’t history at all it seems
I try to keep my head held high, eyes open wide
And growing keeps me learning, yeah it keeps me free

[Chorus:] What have you got to think that time will stop for you?