Biography
England's Fingerprintz now occupy little more than a marginal note in rock history, yet the group ranked among the scarce acts that gave genuine substance to the promotional coinage “new wave.” Scottish-born singer and guitarist Jimmie O’Neill assembled the band in 1978. Tempering punk’s headlong guitar drive with intricate rhythmic detours, the ’Printz delivered sharply observed tales of desire, anxiety, and metropolitan decay. Attracting listeners remained difficult; the music itself aligned closely with prevailing tastes, yet whatever factor kept crowds at a distance is still unclear. The fault certainly did not lie with the recorded output, which, even when occasionally tempered by glossy studio choices, stayed incisive and thoughtful. Perhaps the band simply diverged from the period’s prevailing mood or never received a decisive opportunity. O’Neill disbanded the project after issuing its third and last album, Beat Noir, in 1981. A measure of vindication arrived later when O’Neill and former ’Printz guitarist Cha Burns launched the Silencers in 1987; that outfit enjoyed considerably broader commercial success. Ironically, the Silencers’ albums never matched the Fingerprintz in quality. All three Fingerprintz releases have remained unavailable for years, an absence that quietly underscores the need for a compiled CD anthology.