Fire Engines

While a product of the same early-'80s Scottish post-punk movement that gave rise to <a href="spotify:artist:2u7xZP39dtED9EuRX9MUwu">Orange Juice</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1wAvVTxYw932BnBO5JhrXJ">Josef K</a>, Fire Engines were far more abrasive and discordant than their pop revivalist peers, forsaking melodies and hooks in favor of noise and fury. Their mix of choppy, erratic guitar blasting, scowly vocal yelps, and ever-so-slightly funky basslines mirrored what was happening around the same time in New York's no wave scene, and the frantic output the band left behind in their short blip of activity would influence new wave/post-punk for generations to come. Fire Engines made several singles and their sole LP, Lubricate Your Living Room, before disbanding in 1981, but they re-formed briefly in the early 2000s, and lived on in the form of multiple compilation releases such as 2005's Codex Teenage Premonition and 2024's Chrome Dawns.

Fire Engines formed in Edinburgh in 1979. Three of its founders -- singer/guitarist Davey Henderson, bassist Graham Main, and drummer Russel Burn -- were previously in the Dirty Reds. Rounded out by guitarist Murray Slade, the quartet took its name from a <a href="spotify:artist:7xYxgSJaIf7yOFLmknYX38">13th Floor Elevators</a> song and debuted in late 1980 with the primal "Get Up and Use Me," issued on the Codex Communications label. Packaged in a plastic carrier bag, Fire Engines' mostly instrumental debut LP, Lubricate Your Living Room (Background Music for Action People!), appeared in early 1981. A subsequent move to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Pop%3A+Aural%22">Pop: Aural</a> label resulted in the single "Candyskin," an about-face that pushed Henderson's long-buried nasal vocals to the fore and even introduced a string section. The record was a major indie hit, but when the follow-up, "Big Gold Dream," failed to match its success, Fire Engines disbanded in late 1981. Henderson and Burn soon reunited in <a href="spotify:artist:6JNWO47rXia0JDS6HdktC1">Win</a>; Henderson also resurfaced in the '90s with <a href="spotify:artist:3ezpvEBLui4aajtZzt45DI">Nectarine No. 9</a>. The Fond compilation, released in 1992, issued most of Fire Engines' official releases on CD. Codex Teenage Premonition, released 13 years later, compiled demos and live material.

In 2004, the group re-formed for a one-off show in Edinburgh and released a limited 7" split single with <a href="spotify:artist:0XNa1vTidXlvJ2gHSsRi4A">Franz Ferdinand</a> where the bands covered each other's tunes. This led to a few more reunion shows, which tapered off by 2006. Further compilation releases of Fire Engines' material surfaced as the years went on, including 2007's Hungry Beat and 2024's Chrome Dawns, which included songs from a BBC Peel Session. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi