I’ve been rather remiss in not mentioning the That Petrol Emotion reunion before now but I kept hoping that a proper tour may have been announced. No such luck (so far) and the only dates confirmed are “secret” warm-ups in London and Galway (details) and a show at Electric Picnic (sold out).
For more info on the reunion including some of the songs they’ve rehearsed check out the Petrols’ website which has a video of a recent rehearsal performance of ‘Catch a Fire’. And here’s another track from that song’s parent LP ‘Fireproof’:
That Petrol Emotion – Last of the True Believers (from ‘Fireproof’) [Buy the CD]
Whilst on the subject of TPE, my thoughts turned recently to a band whose name I had to find out from Steve Mack. Back in around about 1989 (I think) the Petrols played a short tour of Scotland and at the first gig I saw at Falkirk Ice Rink they were supported by an all female band. I didn’t catch any details on the night and they weren’t the support the following evening in Glasgow. I’m not sure I would ever have found out who they were if I hadn’t accosted Mr Mack before the Petrols took the stage and was able to elicit the fact that the band were called Fire Party.
Fire Party were loud, think early Throwing Muses but a lot punkier, and a lot of that came over live due to singer Amy Pickering’s pretty intense stage persona. They released an excellent self-titled debut LP then a (comparatively short) LP ‘New Orleans Opera’ the following year.
I guess the reason that they popped into my mind was due to the fact that I’ve been listening to a bit of Sleater-Kinney lately and they are a fairly good term of reference because you can’t help but think that S-K must have heard Fire Party at some point. According to the Dischord website, Fire Party had a lot of difficulty gaining attention in the States as an all girl, slightly avant punk band was something of a novelty.
Despite a more favourable response in the UK ‘New Orleans Opera was their last release. However their recorded output received a reissue a few years back with additional John Peel session tracks and you can buy the CD or download it from Dischord here. Here’s a taster:
Fire Party – Cake (from ’19 Songs’) [Buy the CD] [Download the LP]
Manic Pop Thrills 