Hungry Beat

The Fire Engines formed, did absolutely everything in the most chaotic and unconventional manner possible, and broke up 18 months later. They started their first single with a mistake, never released a proper LP and basically flew in the face of every convention of rock-n-roll, yet they managed to leave a lasting impact on the Scottish music scene and post-punk in general. Considered one of the three main movers on the fertile Scottish post punk scene of the early 1980s with the much poppier Orange Juice and slightly more accessible Josef K, Fire Engines drew from similar influences but leaned towards darker and more abrasive sources: Velvet Underground, the Voidoids, Television, the artier end of UK punk and early post-punk like the Subway Sect, the Pop Group and the Fall, and perhaps most importantly, a copy of No New York, particularly the Contortions.

The Fire Engines music was angular but funky, discordant but melodic, terse and energetic. They had strict rules, drummer Russell Burns was to set the tempo based on the intensity of his adrenaline-rush and wasn't to use cymbals or hi-hats. Guitarists Davy Henderson and Murray Slade weren't to play barre chords and well, Graham Main played bass.