The twenty-fourth day of my musical choices on the twenty-fifth day of supposed isolation: it’s probably time to smash stuff up.

I don’t know about you, but enforced isolation has had no effect on me whatsoever.

Luscious and I… and you know, every other teacher in the state…. are back in the classroom next week, so we have to prepare lessons for both face-to-face and online environments — that’s two five-week units per class. I have three and Luscious has five, so here we are today, at the empty school, preparing powerpoint after powerpoint…..

We’re doing our best to isolate, but Karratha’s already a highly isolated town. There’s a bit of a ‘phony war’ feel to the place: the shops are taking it seriously, but the populace isn’t, judging by the shopping crowds, and the shambling FIFOs milling outside the drinking wallow in the twon centre every time I drive past of an evening.

We’ve had 2 confirmed cases of Covid, but they’ve been isolated at the hospital and nobody’s mentioned them, so it’s almost like they don’t exist in people’s minds. It’s going to break out here. It’s just a matter of time, and the wrong scraped-through-year-ten-Doctor-Google-type-who-knows-better. And when it does it’ll sweep through the town like, well, like a plague. So while I joke, and act all cynical and the like, and make comment about schools returning, I’m genuinely worried about what will happen in the coming weeks. Because there are 1200 kids in this school, and one of them is going to get it. And once they do…

One kid. That’s all it will take, and this town will fall down like a National Party policy promise.

In that spirit, here’s one of the great Australian punk pioneers, with an angry, thrashy, gloriously fuckyouish ode to staying the hell at home where it’s comfortable and all the beer is. Parents: your Government isn’t listening. Please make sure you do.

If you’re late to the party, crack a cold one, headbutt the nearest wall, and pogo your way through this lot:

• A is for the Angels
• B is for the Butthole Surfers
• C is for The Cat Empire
• D is for Dead Kennedys
• E is for Everclear
• F is for Faith No More
• G is for GANGgajang
• H is for Hilltop Hoods
• I is for Ian Dury
• J is for James
• K is for Kinky Friedman
• L is for Lisa Mitchell
• M is for Madness
• N is for Nina Simone
• O is for Orbital
• P is for Painters and Dockers.
• Q is for Queen
• R is for The Reverend Horton Heat
• S is for Squirrel Nut Zippers
• T is for Thomas Dolby
• U is for Ugly Kid Joe
• V is for Violent Femmes
• W is for Warren Zevon