A new video for the FINI TRIBE track “Me and My Shadow” has been released.
“‘Me and My Shadow’ was taken from our second studio session in spring of 1982. We were all still in secondary school in Edinburgh. In fact, the lyrics were written during a library period in lieu of French studies or some tedious Thomas Hardy novel. This would be the first session with Davie Miller, who had previously been in the formidable band Explode Your Heart,” says Chris Connelly.
“The song addresses identity. Written by a 16-year-old, the lyrics float above a meticulous almost-spy-thriller guitar melody, which anchors the song to a fast-paced mechanical rhythm. At the time, we were swimming around in Can and French Noir, like every schoolboy should.”
“For me, ‘Me and My Shadow’ may be the definitive 80s Fini Tribe recording: Chris words, John’s trippy keyboards, and the prescient motorik metal rhythm (played on a chrome clothes rail, as I recall),” says Andy McGregor.
“I’d say it’s also probably the best recorded example of me ‘at one’ with my RAPIER 44, a red sharkfin plectrum, and a matching kitchen stool. I used to sit down to play most of the time, and I can see why. I don’t know if it was a mistake, but there’s something in the way that the recording starts with the reel to reel getting ‘to speed’ — that is the perfect start to a song that feels like the audio equivalent to a fever-dream motorway timelapse.”
The compilation, THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987 was a long time in the making: a labour of love for the band, showcasing our most productive years as a six piece. The compilation of tracks – from professional BBC recordings to live performance and rehearsal room demos – gives as broad a spectrum of the breadth of the band’s creativity during those five important years from 1982 to 1987. The compilation is available digitally on all streaming platforms, and as a 3-CD set with 24-page booklet or a single vinyl album with gatefold sleeve and insert from Shipwrecked Industries (distributed by Virtual Label).
WE’RE INTERESTED, a new single and video in support of the forthcoming THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987, is released today. The song was written around 1983-84 and this version was recorded as part of the band’s John Peel session.
Of the track, Chris says:
“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, more so 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.
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 compilation, THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987 was a long time in the making: a labour of love for the band, showcasing our most productive years as a six piece. The compilation of tracks – from professional BBC recordings to live performance and rehearsal room demos – gives as broad a spectrum of the breadth of the band’s creativity during those five important years from 1982 to 1987. The compilation will be released as a 3-CD set with 24-page booklet, a single vinyl album with gatefold sleeve and insert, or digitally on Friday, October 10th, 2025 on Shipwrecked Industries (distributed by Virtual Label).
THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987 is a retrospective of the band’s material focusing on the years 1982 to 1987. It was a long time in the making, a labour of love for the band, showcasing their most productive years as a six piece with members CHRIS CONNELLY, ANDY MCGREGOR, DAVID MILLER, SIMON MCGLYNN, PHILIP PINSKY, and JOHN VICK.
Fini Tribe in 1986, photo by Peter Ross
The compilation of tracks — including the legendary JOHN PEEL session from 1985, the original 12” singles including DETESTIMONY and the WAXTRAX! singles, and unreleased live tracks –- gives as broad a spectrum of the breadth of the band’s creativity during those five important years from 1982 to 1987. The whole package was lovingly remastered and the album and art was produced by members of the band.
This project will be released as a three-CD digipak with 24-page booklet, a vinyl LP in a gatefold sleeve with insert, and digital download on October 10th 2025 via SHIPWRECKED INDUSTRIES and distributed by VIRTUAL LABEL. Full track listings and other album details are below.
The three-CD digipack includes a 24-page booklet with:
A short essay by SHIRLEY MANSON of GARBAGE
A short essay by ALASTAIR MCKAY, author of Alternatives To Valium: How Punk Rock Saved a Shy Boy’s Life
A long essay by ANDY MCGREGOR
50+ photos and other art
DISC ONE: SINGLES & COMPILATION TRACKS
1. Cathedral (from Curling & Stretching 12”)
2. Backwards and Forwards We Lean (from Curling & Stretching 12”)
3. Curling Theme (from Curling & Stretching 12”)
4. All Fours (From compilation You Bet We’ve Got Something Against You)
5. Detestimony (from Let the Tribe Grow EP)
6. Throttlehearts (Rising Mix) (from Let the Tribe Grow EP)
7. Adults Absolved (from Let the Tribe Grow EP)
8. Monimail (from Let the Tribe Grow EP)
9. I Want More (from The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe EP)
10. Idiot Strength (from The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe EP)
11. Make It Internal (from Make it Internal 12” EP)
12. Little Visitors (from Make it Internal 12” EP)
13. All Fours (Remix) (from Censorship Sucks compilation)
14. I Want More (7” Mix) (from The Sheer Action of Fini Tribe EP)
15. Make It Internal (Integrity Mix) (from Make it Internal 12” EP)
DISC TWO: SESSIONS & DEMOS
1. Splash Care (John Peel Session)
2. Goose Duplicates (John Peel Session)
3. An Evening with Clavichords (John Peel Session)
4. We’re Interested (John Peel Session)
5. Paperself
6. Me and My Shadow
7. Goose Duplicates (Instrumental)
8. Splash Care
9. An Evening with Clavichords
10. Goose Duplicates (Vocal Mix)
11. We’re Interested (Instrumental)
12. Big Jug / Wet Steel Rail
13. We’re Interested (Vox)
14. Restless
15. The Cure for Madness
16. Bye Bye to the October Sky
17. The Constant
18. Throttlehearts (vocal version)
DISC THREE: LIVE+
1. Dirty Harry
2. Do We Understand Each Other
3. I Want More
4. Idiot Strength
5. Bye Bye to the October Sky
6. Backwards and Forwards We Lean
7. Cure For Madness
8. Restless
9. Paperself
10. Backwards and Forwards We Lean (Instrumental)
11. Monimail II
12. City on a Fence
13. Torch/Distance
14. Choke
Vinyl LP (SHIP004LP) Track Listing
The vinyl release is a single LP in a gatefold sleeve including:
A short essay by SHIRLEY MANSON of GARBAGE
A short essay by ALASTAIR MCKAY, author of Alternatives To Valium: How Punk Rock Saved a Shy Boy’s Life
A long essay by ANDY MCGREGOR
A special insert with an eye-witness account of the ‘Absolution’ performance by INNES REEKIE
A dozen photos and other art
SIDE ONE
1. Splash Care (Peel Session)
2. We’re Interested (Peel Session)
3. Goose Duplicates (Peel Session)
4. An Evening with Clavichords (Peel Session)
5. Detestimony
SIDE TWO
1. I Want More (7” Edit)
2. Me and My Shadow
3. Paperself (Live at Pleasance)
4. Do We Understand Each Other (Live at Calton Studios)
Album Information
All tracks composed by: CHRIS CONNELLY
ANDY MCGREGOR
DAVID MILLER
SIMON MCGLYNN
PHILIP PINSKY
JOHN VICK
Except for “I WANT MORE” written by KAROLI/CZUKAY/SCHMIDT/LEIBEZEIT/GILMOUR
Album Credits:
Design & art direction: Andy McGregor remixing 1980’s Fini art
Cover art: high school printed t-shirt by Simon McGlynn
Engineering, production, and mixing for each track listed in the metadata document
Album mastered by James Scott, Populist Recording & Mastering
Ahead of the release of THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987, the band re-release the single “I WANT MORE” as well as the video, both originally released in October 1987 by WaxTrax! Records.
Chris recalls:
“I Want More” is a cover of a song by CAN, a firm favourite of the band since even before its inception! We had a great time re-arranging the song and working on its percussion-driven framework. When we approached WaxTrax!, Jim Nash told us that the single by CAN was in heavy rotation always at the WaxTrax! store in Chicago, so we knew we had come to the right place.
The compilation, THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE: 1982-1987 was a long time in the making: a labour of love for the band, showcasing our most productive years as a six piece. The compilation of tracks – from professional BBC recordings to live performance and rehearsal room demos – gives as broad a spectrum of the breadth of the band’s creativity during those five important years from 1982 to 1987.
Listen to Chris talk about Fini Tribe, the compilation, and much more in this interview with Industrial Amputation.
Full details for THE SHEER ACTION OF FINI TRIBE coming soon!
