Get up and buy this.
One of the first album reviews that this writer undertook for RoomThirteen was of the Domino Records compilation of the Fire Engines out-takes demos and live recordings, which was released at the time of the bands re-union and limited shows. For what was meant to be a very limited reunion, the band very recently wowed the crowd at the Connect Festival and the public have been treated to another re-release of their music, this time by Acute Records. For a band who released 3 singles and a mini-LP, should there be this amount of interest? With 'Hungry Beat' featuring the original recordings as opposed to the alternative versions which were released a few years back, if you want to get right to the source material of The Fire Engines, then yes, there is a perfectly relevant reason for this release.
The reason for the interest is no doubt fuelled by the critical thunbs-up given to the band by bands like Franz Ferdinand and Primal Scream and the current trend for liking the New-Wave bands of the early 1980s, for which the words "wiry and angular" were the perfect description. The Fire Engines had a nasty and vicuous edge to their music, they may have been labelled with some of the other Scottish upstarts of the day but the Edinburgh 4-piece leaned more towards an underground sound and energy as opposed to wanting to break the pop charts.
'Get Up And Use Me' was covered by Franz Ferdinand on a joint 7" single released at the time when The Fire Engines supported the band at their first SECC shows (the B-side featured The Fire Engines take on 'Jacqueline') and its inclusion at track number three on the record immediately jumps out at the listener. Opener 'Candyskin' is fairly poppy (or as poppy as the band were ever going to get) and sounds tied to that 80s vibe but the start-stop-start biting intro of track three sets everything off. The vocals are screamed and slightly couched behind the lead guitar line which only makes the quiet pause section stand out more.
'Big Gold Dream' features backing vocals and a chorus that should have received far more coverage at the time, the jangling guitar line the equal of anything the Jesus And Mary Chain unveiled in their turbulent career and the ticking energy of the music has the been the sound of the indie disco for the past two and a half decades. Likewise, 'Discord' is hugely infectious, its psychotic yelps mixing with the high-tempo to createa paranoid track that fires to its conclusion.
Theres a bit of repetition here with alternative versions of some of the tracks featuring but given the limited output of the band, it would be a short package if there wasnt some additional material and also, the versions do add something different. There are also a fair few instrumental passages that pepper the album but fear not, as they are all quality. 'Lubricate Your Living Room 1'is possibly the pick of the bunch but they all have an excitment about them and dont lose anything from having a lack of screamed vocals over the top of them.
So many bands and success stories of recent times owe bands like The Fire Engines huge debt and its good to learn about the history of music. Of course, the bands that have followed have taken the blueprint and polished it up, thats why bands have sold more records than The Fire Engines ever managed but there has been a watering down effect along the way and whether you view this as a good or bad thing all depends on what you want from music. If its raw and vitriolic spite you are after, then 'Hungry Beat' has it all for you. If you need a bit more sugar coating then plenty of acts have enhanced the bands sound and that could well be the one for you to turn to.