Hungry Beat

One of a handful of influential, short-lived Scottish post-punk bands from the early ‘80s, Fire Engines reformed and toured after roughly 25 years (encouraged by admirers Franz Ferdinand), inspiring legions of the uninitiated to seek out their hard-to-find records. This collection of singles and one early album (their complete recorded works) is a fine representation of the groundbreaking band, which not only wore late-‘70s American influences on their sleeves (Television, James Chance/White, Captain Beefheart), but borrowed those bands’ aesthetics and then laid down their own rules: no barre chords, no hi-hat, no cymbals. Standouts in this collection include their first single, “Get Up and Use Me,” with its snaky guitar line, insistent cowbell and Henderson’s belligerent vocals; the manic, Gang of Four-ish “Hungry Beat”; another single, “Candyskin” (a pseudo-pop song, where clanging, noisy guitars meet a string section), along with its original flipside, “Meat Whiplash,” all pummeled drums and see-sawing guitars; and the highly energetic “Discord,” a tune gathering in speed for seven barely controlled minutes. Breathtaking.