Stiff Little Fingers “Nobody’s Heroes” 1980. Social media can be awful but on days like today it’s golden; while scrolling along I saw a friend liking that their buddy was interested in attending a Stiff Little Fingers show in Minnesota. Intrigued, I checked further and found that the band will be performing in Milwaukee at Shank Hall in September. Joe and I have been talking bucket-list bands recently and while SLF wasn’t necessarily on it, I will always jump at a chance to see some legends.

Nobody’s Heroes was SLF’s second release, hitting #8 in the UK with three released singles: “Straw Dogs” (#44, this track does not appear on our album), “At the Edge” (#15) and “Nobody’s Hero/Tin Soldiers” (#36). Their hyper-political, working class melodic punk is just as strong as it was on their debut Inflammable Material, with anthems to rival “Alternative Ulster” like “At the Edge,” “Tin Soldiers” and “Gotta Gettaway.” Jim Reilly replaces original drummer Brian Faloon who left the band after their first release and gets a tribute on the drum-forward track “Wait and See.” SLF also makes a credible venture into a more pronounced reggae rhythm, with the aptly titled “Bloody Dub” and their cover of The Specials’ “Doesn’t Make It Alright.”

I also found the back of the album cover funny, a little F-You to the record industry. Pictured is a letter from Chrysalis Records dated 1978 (before the 1979 successful debut album was released on Rough Trade) declaring that the material does not have potential and that Chrysalis was not the company “able to assist in furthering your recording career.” Three years later, Chrysalis obviously changed their tune and released Nobody’s Heroes.