stiff little fingers Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

The Vibrators “Pure Mania”

sfilzen — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 15:42:18 +0000

The Vibrators “Pure Mania” 1977. Promo copy. After seeing Stiff Little Fingers this past weekend, we got to talking about the Vibrators (SLF took their name from the track “Stiff Little Fingers” that appears on Pure Mania, “[Jake] Burns, [Henry] Cluney, and [Brian] Faloon had previously been in a cover band called Highway Star, but when Cluney became a convert to punk rock, Burns and Faloon followed suit, and after recruiting [Ali] McMordie, they took the name Stiff Little Fingers from a song by the Vibrators” – Allmusic). We think we saw the Vibrators play in Milwaukee sometime in the 90′s, maybe at the Globe (now gone) or at Quarters (still very much there) but it was around 20 years ago so recollections are hazy. Joe thinks maybe he just believed we saw them since he listened to his cassette so much that he somehow manifested it into reality.

Pure Mania was the Vibrators’ first release after forming in ‘76 during the first wave of British punk. Like the Buzzcocks and the Stranglers, the Vibrators straddle the line between power pop, hard pub rock and punk. Their songs are short, catchy as hell, full of snot and snarl while singing about girls (“Sweet Sweet Heart,” “Baby Baby,” “London Girls”), broken hearts (“No Heart,” “You Broke My Heart”) and having a good time (“Whips and Furs,” “Bad Time,” which starts out about having a bad time but by then end things have changed – now it’s a good time!). “Wrecked on You” has a bit of it all. “Stiff Little Fingers” is lyrically the most punk track on the record, filled with manic pessimism.

Hangs a naked light over your face
Shines electric ness upon your bed
Well, if it wasn’t for your stiff little fingers
Nobody would know you were dead

You never really did much living
You mainly sat and watched your TV
I think it had you on remote control
Tickin’ over nicely

But you screwed up this time
Now you gotta start from the bottom again
It’s a serious game
When you gotta start from the bottom again
I’m gonna start now

I want to be dead

The optician said “20 20”
But you stumbled ‘round like you were blind
You never saw beyond your own four walls
It’s a shame you never saw the light

But you screwed up this time
Now you gotta start from the bottom again
It’s a serious game
When you gotta start from the bottom again
When you gotta start from the bottom again
When you gotta start from the bottom again
When you gotta start from the bottom again
I’m gonna start now

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Stiff Little Fingers “Hanx!”

sfilzen — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 20:57:36 +0000

Stiff Little Fingers “Hanx!” 1980. We saw Stiff Little Fingers perform this past Friday night at Shank Hall in Milwaukee as part of their 40th anniversary tour and their melodic punk sound was just as tight as this live album from July ‘80 (recorded at the Rainbow in London and Friars in Aylesbury). Only Jake Burns (vocal/guitar) and Ali McMordie (bass) remain from the original lineup. Burns has a middle-age beer gut (but sounds amazing) while McMordie epitomizes the lean, cocky bass player stereotype.

My friend Chris P. nabbed the set list after the show and snapped this photo:

This was SLF’s first time ever playing Milwaukee and they performed a few newer songs, including “My Dark Places” from their 2014 release No Going Back (listed as “Dark” on the setlist; Burns introduced the song with a brief and matter-of-fact description of his longtime battle with depression and a plea for others to get help if they need it), but the majority of the show was from their early years (and frankly what the audience wanted to hear). Songs from Friday’s show and ones that appear on Hanx! are “At the Edge,” “Barbed Wire Love,” “Nobody’s Hero” and “Tin Soldiers.” The encore included “Johnny Was” (a Bob Marley cover), “Gotta Gettaway” and the ever-excellent “Alternative Ulster.” In between many of the songs, Burns good-naturely chatted with the audience, describing the bands’ breakup in the mid-80′s (“we couldn’t stand the sight of each other”) and surviving a musician right-of-passage: going out drinking with a guy from Thin Lizzy after moving to London from Ireland in ‘79.

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Stiff Little Fingers “Nobody’s Heroes”

sfilzen — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 18:36:27 +0000

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.

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Stiff Little Fingers “Inflammable Material”

sfilzen — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 14:43:39 +0000

Stiff Little Fingers “Inflammable Material” 1979. Rough Trade Records, the label’s first distributed album and the first indie album to chart in the UK, reaching #14. Northern Ireland punk rock: fiery commentary on young punk life in turmoil (from “White Noise” – ‘If the victim ain’t a soldier why should we care? Irish bodies don’t count. Life’s cheaper over there”). Allmusic’s Thom Jurek says, “Stiff Little Fingers were Ireland’s answer to both the Clash and the Sex Pistols. They had the personal and political stance of the former, and the noisy, pissed off, slash-and-burn musical aesthetic as the latter.” Growling and sneering with sincere anger, Stiff Little Fingers make modern suburban “punk” sound like bubblegum pop. Even a love song like “Barbed Wire Love” has urgent and voice-cracking desperation (“I met you in No Man’s Land across the wire we were holding hands, hearts a-bubble in the rubble, It was love at bomb site”). One of the best and well-known tracks on “Inflammable Material” is “Alternative Ulster,” a call-to-arms protest anthem, reflecting the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland that was pervasive during much of the 20th century.

Seven more hours in Belfast
The pound so old it’s a pity
Okay, there’s the Trident in Bangor
And then you walk back to the city

We ain’t got nothin’ but they don’t really care
They don’t even know you know
They just want money
We can take it or leave it
What we need

Is an alternative ulster
Grab it, change it, it’s yours
Get an alternative ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws

Get an alternative ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native ulster
Alter your native land

Take a look where you’re livin’
You got the army on the street
And the R U C dog of repression
Is barking at your feet

Is this the kind of place you wanna live?
Is this where you wanna be?
Is this the only life we’re gonna have?
What we need

Is an alternative ulster
Grab it, change it, it’s yours
Get an alternative ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws

Get an alternative ulster
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native ulster
Alter your native land

And they say they’re a part of you
And that’s not true you know
They say they got control of you
And that’s a lie, you know
They say you will never be
Free, free, free

Alternative ulster
Alternative ulster
Alternative ulster
Alternative ulster

Go and get it now

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