Fire Dept - History

History

The Fire Dept were a punk rock group started in 1987 in Cambridge, England, that played in the same garage rock or garage punk genre (also known at that time as 60s punk) as many other bands in the British Isles during the late 1980s and early 90s, most notably Thee Headcoats and The Thanes.

In 1988, the Fire Dept moved to Brighton and mainly performed locally and in London, where they played most often at the Wild Western Rooms, in the back room of the St John's Tavern, Archway, which was the monthly home of Thee Headcoats throughout the 1990s. It was there that they supported many 1960s Beat groups rediscovered and encouraged to reform by the promoter, Slim Chance.

Billy Childish released the Fire Dept's second single, "Last One There" b/w "She Saw Me" on his Hangman's Daughter label in 1995. Later that year, Childish produced the Fire Dept's first LP, L'Oeuf d'Or, all the material on which was recorded by Liam Watson during various sessions at Toe Rag Studios, in its original location in Shoreditch, from 1991 to 1995. This first album was cited as an ancestor of The White Stripes' "Elephant" album by respected analogue recording neo-pioneer and Black Keys producer, Mark Neill, who helped set up Toe Rag Studios in Hackney, after its move from Shoreditch.

Their second long-player, a punk rock concept album, Elpee for Another Time, was released through Yep! Records of Hove in 1996. This LP was accompanied by an explanatory booklet including a foreword by writer, subcultural pamphleteer, underground art historian, and activist, Stewart Home, and an essay by underground novelist, Simon Strong. Liam Watson included the Fire Dept's version of "Mental Block" (originally written by Sean Thomas and performed by the early-1980s Bristol mod band, The Reaction) as one of his favourite tracks on The Sympathetic Sounds Of Toe-Rag Studios, London, issued in 2002 by Sympathy for the Record Industry. A retrospective album of previously unreleased material, The History of Fen Punk, Vol. III, was issued by Cormorant Recordings of Brighton in 2003.

In 2004, the Fire Dept played for the last time with the Buff Medways at the Dirty Water Club in Tufnell Park, London. Neil Palmer formed The Vermin Poets with Billy Childish and Julie Hamper in early 2007.