The one word that springs to mind when I think of Stiff Little Fingers debut release is integrity. There are very few albums from that era that still retain the same power that they had at the time. Angry, passionate lyrics, Jake Burns rasping vocals and just bloody great songs that make Inflammable Material one of the essential punk albums. Raw, committed and delivered with such anger and sheer vitriol based out of personal experience with no compromise. This album more than almost any other sums up everything that was worthy about the punk era.
Stiff Little Fingers - Wasted Life
My favourite punk band, not post punk power pop as Artog described them as.
ReplyDeleteStill, surprisingly good live.
Seen them a few times on St. Pats in recent years and they still sound great. That debut is easily up there with the debuts from The Clash and The Ramones. I think it is the sheer rawness of it that appeals top me.
ReplyDeleteIn 1979 I was 'Social Sec.' @ Southend College. We booked SLF for a gig. They were brilliant.Security had been told by the Social Sec just to try and keep people off stage, nothing too heavy. First encore, "Running Bear" - who was the first idiot up on stage, mooning and grabbing Jake B's mike? Yep, yours truly.
ReplyDeleteBack catalogue very much of it's time but a truly under rated collection of 45's to match Madness, Smiths and The Jam.
Rik