Scotland around the turn of the 80s was the musical place to be, from the Postcard Records genius of Orange Juice and Josef K, through the motorik of early Simple Minds to the astonishing otherness of The Associates, however the star that shone brightest and flamed out far too quickly was Edinburgh's Fire Engines.
I first read about them via a review of their debut single Get Up and Use Me/Everything’s Roses in the NME in the Autumn of 1980. Intrigued by both what I read and a cover that reminded me of the sort of thing Linder Sterling would do for Buzzcocks, I bought a copy from Virgin in Coventry.
I was hooked from the moment they started, then stopped, then started again. Do it yourself at its finest, Get Up and Use Me was good, but, for me, it was Everything’s Roses that really cut it-rising to great crescendos of noise then back into a post punk funky groove then up again. Truly enthralling.
Peel obviously liked them too and played both sides again and again.
In January 1981 an 8 track mini-album Lubricate Your Living Room appeared. It was jagged, it was almost New York No Wave in places, and, in the epic punk funk of ‘Discord’, Fire Engines created a sound that many would later make a career out of… Just listen to ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ by The Rapture or even LCD Soundsystem, it’s all there.
Hot on the heels of January’s release they recorded their first session for John Peel. Initially it was a bit of a shock as it was far more polished than what had gone before. The first song was Candyskin—a proper pop song with hooks and things, but it was OK. The next song was the real surprise. The press was raving about a soon to be released song called ‘We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thing’ by Heaven 17. It transpired that Fire Engines shared the same manager as Heaven 17 and had already heard the song so covered it for the session. Some people still mistakenly believe it’s a Fire Engines song covered by Heaven 17. Whatever. It’s an excellent version. The third track simply titled Untitled sounds like something that wouldn’t have been out of place on Lubricate Your Living Room. The final track is an even faster version of Discord, and it’s flipping great!
By this time I was itching to see them live despite the fact they only did short 20 minute sets, who cares? However they only seemed to ever play in Scotland with a very occasional trip down to London so it was never to be.
In May 81 they gave us a re-recorded version of the Peel Session track Candyskin complete with a brillant string part that sounds like it had come straight from a recording of a Bollywood soundtrack, coupled with Meat Whiplash which is absolutely magnificent. Funky, punky, phased guitars, snarled vocals, and a drummer with no cymbals having a wail of a time thrashing heck out of his kit. A wonderful single.
Sadly nothing could really top it. There was one more single, Big Gold Dream, which was OK but sounded far too smooth when compared to the snarky edges I’d loved before, and the b-sides were re-recordings of tracks from Lubricate Your Living Room.
There was a second and final Peel Session in November but it lacked the spark, the energy, the oomph that characterised their earlier work so it came as no surprise when they split within a month or so of its broadcast. Fire Engines went from singles costing £46 to record, through an incredibly influential mini-LP, to one of the great Peel Sessions, to classic single in the space of 8 months.
I’m not one for nostalgia but it was a remarkable run and I still find myself La-La-La-ing along to Candyskin or dancing around my manbag to Discord...In my head at least. Whenever I hear LCD Soundsystem, Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture!!! and numerous others, I smile a knowing smile.
Essential Information
Main image by Hilary Morisson
It's Fire Engines Week
It's Fire Engines Week in Outsideleft
Getting to Know the Fire Engines
A Dayglo Mohair Jumper - An interview with Davy Henderson
Everything Happens So Fast
Cheekbones and Speed
chrome dawns
