SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: FINI TRIBE – “WE’RE INTERESTED”

FINI TRIBE – “WE’RE INTERESTED”

A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE

Today we premiere a single that is retrotastic with a novel feeling of youthful exploration and euphoria. Hailing from Edinburgh, our focus turns to Fini Tribe, one of the most fascinating alternative bands to emerge from Scotland. But don’t take our word for it. BBC legend John Peel once said of them, “They go in for a lot of banging and bumping and howling and those type of things. So there’s a good chance I’ll be cutting a rug when it’s on the radio”, while Shirley Manson of Garbage fame recently stated, “The Fini Tribe were THE coolest band in town, their contributions to the history of Scottish music cannot be overstated”.

“We’re Interested”, previews the multi-album anthology The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe: 1982-1987. This happens to be one of many tracks from the original 1985 Peel Session that were remastered by the members of Fini Tribe themselves. The band earlier released “I Want More”, a high-octane, percussion-driven cover of a Can track (originally released via WaxTrax! Records, with whom they signed in 1987). This anthology also includes the original 12” singles (including “Detestimony”).

Stepping back into the exhilarating world of Fini Tribe’s music is a testament to the idea that true brilliance never fades. Their sound, a vibrant mix of post-punk energy and new-wave flair, feels just as fresh and thrilling today as it must have felt to a new audience back in the 80s. With their pulsing rhythms and infectious melodies, you can hear them laying the groundwork for what would become the distinctive, soaring sound of bands like James and Pop Will Eat Itself, to name but a few. This isn’t merely a look back at the past; it’s a fresh discovery of a band whose youthful creativity and spirited dynamism remain utterly compelling for both a new generation and original followers.

Fini Tribe was born into the cash-poor but culturally-wealthy environs of post-punk Edinburgh in the very early 80s – 1980 to be precise. A tiny three-piece with no drummer would soon swell into a muscular six-piece with inherited or cheaply-purchased instruments. Band members Chris Connelly, Simon McGlynn, Andy McGregor, Davie Miller, Philip Pinsky, and John Vick haunted the cold, damp warrens of the Niddry Street and Blair Street rehearsal rooms, just off the high street in Old Town Edinburgh. The band would eventually disband and Chris Connelly would move to Chicago and join The Revolting Cocks.

“Actually ‘We’re Interested” was a watershed moment for the Fini Tribe. Starting with John Vick’s plaintive piano melody, it invited each member of the group to bring a melancholy laced with an (almost) pop sensibility to the song… inspired by endless walks, bike rides and other shenanigans on the banks of Edinburgh’s Union Canal, one of the many cryptic landmarks of the city that inspired the band. The song IS Edinburgh, moreso than most: it is the green of the Braid Burn Valley, the dank history of the band’s Niddry Street rehearsal room, the secret lanes of the New Town,” says Chris Connelly.

PHOTO CREDIT: PETER ROSS

“The version you have here was recorded at BBC Maida Vale studios and produced by Mott the Hoople’s Dale Griffin, who was kind enough to lend his ears to the young Finis that amazing spring Sunday in 1985 when they recorded their first John Peel session. The song became a live favourite, and its haunting melody stretches far over the forty years since its conception.”

“The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe” includes a wealth of archival photographs, an essay by original member Andy McGregor, who also designed the sleeve, and essays by longtime friend Shirley Manson (Garbage, Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie) and author Alastair McKay, an early champion of the band. This release also includes the first legendary John Peel Session, produced by Dale Griffin and originally broadcast in May 1985.

Drawing on the influences of everything from Throbbing Gristle, Wire, Can, Captain Beefheart, and numerous angular funk bands that were spewing out of the John Peel Show at the time, they also drew from the seemingly bottomless well of modern film, writing, and art that was abundant in the festival city.

Working between high school and part-time jobs, Fini Tribe relentlessly rehearsed and wrote new material, playing whenever they had the opportunity to any audience keen on hearing them. Becoming a frantic, well-oiled machine, they played elsewhere in the UK and their sound became more unique and, propelled by the new availability of sampling, they quickly evolved into a formidable experimental dance unit.

Their self-released debut EP (on their own FINIFLEX label) led to the John Peel Session. Their 1986 Let The Tribe Grow EP featured the anthemic, church-bell-driven track “Detestimony”, which would become an iconic statement of intent. Their new, hypervisual approach was more akin to performance art than traditional rock ‘n’ roll. At a one-off performance at Edinburgh’s prestigious Assembly Rooms, they combined sculpture, film, ritual, and new music, culminating in suspended bin bags full of lurid poster paint that were sprayed over a shocked audience. The gauntlet was thrown, literally covered in paint.

The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe: 1982-1987 was recorded in Edinburgh at Wilf’s Planet, Pier House, Niddry Street Rehearsal Rooms, Pleasance Theatre, and Calton Studios, and in London at Southern Studios and at BBC Studios, Maida Vale.

As of September 10,”‘We’re Interested” is out at https://finitribe.lnk.to/wereinterested. The full album, released on October 10 via Shipwrecked Industries, is available as a three-CD digipak with 24-page booklet, as a vinyl LP in a gatefold sleeve with insert, and digitally. Get it on Bandcamp https://chrisconnelly.bandcamp.com.

CREDITS

All tracks composed and performed by Chris Connelly, Andy McGregor, David Miller, Simon McGlynn, Philip Pinsky & John Vick, except “I Want More” (written by Karoli/Czukay/Schmidt/Leibezeit/Gilmour)
Published by Copyright Control / P.R.S. Concord Music / B.M.I. Momentum / Universal
Design & art direction: Andy McGregor, remixing 1980’s Fini art
Cover artwork: high school printed t-shirt by Simon McGlynn
Produced by Fini Tribe, John McVay, Dale Griffin, John Vick
Mixed by Fini Tribe, Paul Barker, John Vick
Engineered by Peter Haigh, Chic Medley, John Vick, Trigger, Mike Engles, Wilf Smarties, Rock Hardware
Recorded at Wilf’s Planet, Edinburgh
Pier House, Edinburgh
Demo & rehearsal recordings made at Niddry Street Rehearsal Rooms, Edinburgh with overdubs at various band members’ flats around Edinburgh
Live recordings made at Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh, 15 December 1983
Live recordings made at Calton Studios, Edinburgh, 27 May 1987
Location recordings made at Monimail, Fife, Scotland
Southern Studios, London
BBC Studios, Maida Vale, London, 12 May 1985
Mastered by James Scott, Populist Recording & Mastering
Shipwrecked Industries CD catalogue no. SHIP004CD
Shipwrecked Industries LP catalogue No. SHIP004LP
Distribution via Virtual Label
“We’re Interested” video by Kimberly Blessing
Footage of 1986 Edinburgh courtesy of Jean-François at Popcards Factory
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE CD SET

Disc 1 – SINGLES & COMPILATION TRACKS
Disc 2 – SESSIONS & DEMOS
Disc 3 – LIVE +

Also enjoy the first single to be introduced from this rich anthology:

Fini Tribe
[Single]
(Shipwrecked Industries)
Release Date: September 10, 2025

Artist Links

Background Photo Credit: Bili Tennant