Nonetheless, there was a point in the early noughties where the music press was packed with bands – such as Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, the Futureheads and the Rapture – who clearly bore their influence. On the slender roster of the legendary Postcard label, Josef K were the dark, literary, angular Edinburgh counterpoint to Orange Juice: they alternately sounded brooding and frenzied, released a string of fantastic singles – of which the insistent Radio Drill Time might be the pick – and never fully realised their potential. In the late 90s, the great Chemikal Underground label suggested a Scottish indie renaissance at odds with then-current alt-rock trends, involving the smart, folky Delgados, Arab Strap’s scuzzy spoken word and Mogwai, whose distinctive, intense, witty, constantly evolving brand of post-rock proved the most lasting and impactful of all.
They could write pop songs – the brilliant 1981 single Candyskin even featured a string arrangement – but the real legacy of Edinburgh’s Fire Engines was in their nervy, hyper-kinetic funk rhythms and abrasive guitar clang, a sound streamlined and taken to the top of the charts 20 years later by Franz Ferdinand.
A band out of time, Life Without Buildings split just before the noughties post-punk revival, during which they might have slotted in, although they weren’t so much inspired by the sound of the early 80s as its exploratory spirit: the oblique sprechgesang vocals of singer Sue Tompkins rested on quietly simmering guitar riffs to spellbinding effect.
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