Originally released circa 1990 by Strange Fruit in a less exhaustative form - basically omitting the band's initial 6-track "quasi-professionnally" recorded effort from a Belfast studio in April 1978 - this expanded edition is a timely re-issue, highlighting the power and passion that perhaps punk's angriest voices of all were capable of.
As Carol Clerk's vivid sleevenotes suggest, Northern Ireland needed the anger and energy of punk like the desert needs rain and to this day no-one has articulated the injustices and contradictions of life in the troubles-ridden province with greater clarity and livid, vein-bursting rage than Jake Burns' mob.
Although this writer would dispute the belief that SLF went off the boil after their "heyday" period (roughly spring '78 to spring '80: the period spanned here), it's impossible to deny the resonance of these four no-frills sessions over two decades later or ignore Jake Burns' plaster-ripping growl. To say he sounds angry is rather like wondering if Oasis could sell out the youth club down the street.
The thing is, compared with most of the UK's punk bandwagon jumpers, SLF had shitloads to complain about, and the first two sessions here encompass the period that spewed their immortal "Inflammable Material" album, where the anti-injustice salvoes come thick and fast. These sessions feature versions of tracks exclusively from that album, with the first (April 1978) unusually posted to Peel from Belfast. Kicking off with a ragged, desperate "Wasted Life", this session also takes in an impassioned "Alternative Ulster" and a truncated "Johnny Was" that hasn't quite found its' feet yet.
No such problems with the version that kicks off the first Maida Vale session from September 1978. The military funeral drum rolls, ratchet guitar bursts and Burns' furious vocals virtually garotte you and the bit where the music stops and he howls "A single shot rings out in a Belfast night" still takes your breath away. "Law And Order" and (naturally) "Suspect Device" reinforce the incendiary feel, although "Barbed Wire Love" - with its' brilliantly hilarious doo-wop middle 8 bit - shows just how important a shot of humour was in such a situation.
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By the time of session 3 (September 1979), Jim Reilly had replaced Brian Faloon in the drum seat and - no disrespect to Faloon - helped bring the SLF sound on in leaps and bounds. This session debuts the band's two big hits, "At The Edge" and "Nobody's Hero", along with the guns-for-hire rant that is "Straw Dogs". The music may have evolved, but the militancy remained.
The final session (Feb 1980) is perhaps the most satisfying sonically. Burns and Henry Cluney's twin guitar attack is beautifully fine-tuned; Ali McMordie pulls off audacious high-end bass runs and Reilly is unbelievably dextrous. Ally this to the merciless put down "I Don't Like You" and the band's continuing allegiance to reggae/rock crossovers with the cover of Jerry Dammers' "Doesn't Make It All Right" and it wouldn't be unfair to say SLF were approaching their peak.
This writer personally still thinks SLF were wrong to call it a day after the largely great "Now Then" in 1983, but this - along with their reformation - are issues for another day. "The Complete John Peel Sessions" is an essential companion for anyone keen to discover both "Inflammable Material" and "Nobody's Heroes" (and you should), as its' songs highlight the horrors and tribulations of living in such a shadowy, desolate world in the brightest marker pen imaginable.
Still love at bombsite, then? Absolutely.
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