It goes without saying that we’ll always cherish the SEX PISTOLS and THE CLASH for booting everyone’s apathy in the slats during the drought summer of 1976, yet it’s hard to imagine even these hard-bitten groups’ raw nihilism stacking up against the everyday fears and frustrations of young people growing up in a post-Bloody Sunday Northern Ireland.
For Belfast’s STIFF LITTLE FINGERS, however, this grim landscape infused their Rough Trade debut LP, “Inflammable Material” (1979) with a spluttering fury that’s still exhilarating to catch today. Critics still go into raptures over it on occasion, but this record aside, journalists far too intent on grabbing for the next retrospective bandwagon rather unfairly dismiss the rest of the mighty SLF’s catalogue these days.
Because even the most cursory listen to SLF’s Chrysalis period shoots such dismissals to shit. Sure, the band succumbed to The Man’s dangling dollars (who didn’t in Punk’s Diaspora?) but the elements that originally singled them out – Jake Burns’ plaster-ripping vocals liberally smeared over fiery, scattershot guitars remained happily intact.
SLF’s first Chrysalis album, “Nobody’s Heroes” (1980) spawned two hit singles in “At The Edge” and the double A-side “Nobody’s Hero”/ “Tin Soldier”. “At The Edge” was undoubtedly the anti-parent anthem in this writer’s classroom – the lyric: “it’s exams that count not football teams” carrying particular weight.
Doug Bennett, the producer responsible for “Nobody’s Heroes”’ brash, confident sheen, stayed on board for its’ follow up, as FINGERS again decamped to Olympic Studios in Barnes, south London for LP no.3 in the winter of 1980/81. Bennett’s dedication to his work at Olympic (where he frequently slept in the studio) had previously lent itself to the success of the first two BUZZCOCKS albums and his knack for nailing down such spiky, melodic fare again came up trumps with SLF.
Indeed, listening to it today, “Go For It” still bristles with a muscular, accomplished zeal and flaunts the kind of old-fashioned values – big-hearted honesty and passion – that we regularly sneer at in these grasping, post-Millennial days and is all the more resonant for that. In many ways, it’s a new wave “Who’s Next” in that it’s ten tracks are book ended by two of the most enduring SLF clarion calls, “Roots, Radicals, Rockers and Reggae” and the plaintive “Piccadilly Circus.”
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“Roots, Radicals…” notched up the third of the FINGERS’ punky reggae protest triumphs that began with their assault on Bob Marley’s “Johnny Was” and continued through their take on Jerry Dammers’ “Doesn’t Make It Alright” on “Nobody’s Heroes.” “Piccadilly Circus,” meantime, was a particularly memorable comment on the Irish Diaspora, featuring fine, urgent performances from the whole band and Burns sounding utterly incredulous as he relates the tragic tale of a young Belfast émigré randomly battered in the Big Smoke.
There’s plenty to recommend in between, too. “Just Fade Away”, another patent fury/ melody cross over again saw the band on “Top Of The Pops”, whilst both “Silver Lining’s gritty, horn – led realism and the near-rockabilly “Gate 49” (sung by guitarist Henry Cluney) saw SLF’s voice of reason lyrics were supplied by their ex-journalist manager Gordon Ogilvie, but on the instrumental title track they go it alone with a percussive delight which screams out for sporting highlights to soundtrack to this day.
The energy couldn’t last, though, and while 1982’s “Now Then” still retained reserves of power and crunching melody, it probably was right that Burns dimmed the lights and split the original group during 1983. The reformed FINGERS can still thunder impressively live and continue to release engaging albums with a line up including former JAM bassist Bruce Foxton, so don’t think of writing them off. For now, though, revisit the sheer guts ‘n’ gumption of “Go For It” and claw yourself out, no matter how low you feel. Believe me, this album’s good enough to do it.
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