Along with up and coming post-punk bands like Orange Juice, the Scars and Josef K, the Fire Engines were part of a burgeoning Scottish music scene that erupted in the late 1970s and early 1980s that was epitomised by the releases on Postcard Records. Formed in Edinburgh in 1980 from the ashes of The Dirty Reds, the Fire Engines line up of Davy Henderson (guitar / vocals), Murray Slade (guitar) Russell Burn (drums) and Graham Main (bass) were, although very different in style, still very much part of a thriving Scottish post punk scene that featured Orange Juice, Josef K, Scars, Aztec Camera and The Associates. Inspired by the Voidoids and James Chance, their live shows were frenzied affairs, short sharp shocks, chaotic, unpredictable and never more than fifteen or twenty minutes long. Pure aggression, it was passionate and exciting - jagged guitars clashed with Burn's frantic drumming while Henderson randomly screamed and yelped undecipherable lyrics over the whole glorious noise. Their sound was so raw, angry and extreme. i'm not sure if someone really love this kind of chaos but one thing is for sure, they were really unique! And what a great style too... Hear them playing live in 1981 at Valentino's, with their fuzzy guitars, distorted vocals and a mighty rage... all the elements which characterised the Fire Engines' music and tones of bands years later... even today, the band's early songs are still striking and inventive... not only was the music radical but so was the format they were released on. Don't forget them!
