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January 19, 2006
Fire Engines! Awoooooooo – Awoooooooo!
One of the great byproducts of Franz Ferdinand’s meteoric and completely out of left field ascendance was an increased focus on the Scottish post-punk artists of the early eighties that had such a big influence on their sound. Last year saw two long lost releases from that scene finally see the light of day. One, Orange Juice’s the Glasgow School, was fantastic and would have had a long bloody battle with Wolf Parade for the top album of the year, if it was a new release.
The other, Codex Teenage Premonition by Fire Engines was actually pretty disappointing.
For a much discussed (well, they got a one line mention in Hornsby’s High Fidelity anyway) band with exactly zero albums in print, the decision to release a compilation of shoddy live and demo performances is baffling at best and borders on destructive. The most unkempt and borderline No Wave artist of 1980 Glasgow, the songs would probably be a little ungainly even with pristine production. These early demos and shoddy live recordings are basically unlistenable. To paraphrase Dylan, something’s happening here, but I can’t tell what it is. I can’t even compare their worth to their studio counterparts, because the last time these songs existed on disc was 1992’s now also out print Fond compilation. I was probably passing them over eagerly for some sweet Stone Temple Pilots at that point. STP’s elegant bachelor status aside, I wish I had that decision back.
With the UK tracklisting this comp. would be blatantly irrelevant. Luckily for us Yanks, the US version provided three extra tracks that almost completely redeem the whole endeavor.
Discord (Peel Session, 1981) – mp3
The crisp BBC recording studios and excellent taste of John Peel strike again. Closer to the dance-y noise of NYC’s James Chance and the Contortions than the proto-Smiths bliss of Orange Juice, this track manages to be simultaneously catchy and insanely loose. It threatens to fall apart, but never does. Plus, it’s tough to beat a chorus of “Duh duh duh dow, duh duh duh dow, duh- Discord/ Yow!”
Candyskin (Peel Session, 1981) – mp3
But they can do poppy too. This is probably the song everybody’s talking about when they claim FE as a Franz influence. A big fat bassline, two intertwining guitar parts, a shower of la-las, steady drum beats. Check. Also a coolly evocative nonsense chorus in “Candyskin-uh Candyskin / Who’d have guessed your luck? / You don’t want a velvet skin, oh/ Candyskin-uh Candy-suck!”
Obviously.
Jacqueline (Franz Ferdinand cover) - mp3
Franz repaid their creative debt to the Engines by pulling them out from whatever rock they were under and getting them to record this track, which FF used as a recent b-side. They turn the slick rocker into a really fun shambles that makes the original’s abrupt pace shift almost organic and better suits the desperate hedonism of the lyrics. Bonus points for actually making a Franz song even more homoerotic by replacing the line “I’m so drunk I don’t mind if you kill me” with “I’m so drunk I don’t mind if you fill me up.”
So there you go. You’re welcome Brits.
Tags: Fire Engines, Franz Ferdinand
Posted by Jeff Klingman at January 19, 2006 02:32 PM
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