Stiff Little Fingers Guitar And Drum CD

Long before Green Day or Blink 182, there was Ireland's Stiff Little Fingers, a fierce 1970s punk band high on energy and pop hooks. Despite many ups and downs, Stiff Little Fingers are still going strong on 2003's GUITAR AND DRUM, successfully mining the punchy, melodic punk they helped pioneer all those decades ago. The group still delivers loud and fast, though some of the edges have been filed down a bit (it's hard to imagine the dreamy jangle-pop of "Dead Man Walking" appearing on a record like 1979's INFLAMMABLE MATERIAL). Also, their accessible songcraft is more pronounced than ever--complete with sing-along choruses and riffs ready for hard-rock air-guitar playing.

There is a vague Celtic vibe to "Achilles' Heart" and a deep reggae influence on "Be True to Yourself." But this is not to say that the Fingers have gone soft. Jake Burns still sings with his ragged-voiced sneer, and the guitars remain razor-sharp. The pummeling tempo of "Empty Sky" and the moving Joe Strummer tribute "Strummerville" show the quartet still know how to tear up their amplifiers old-school style. Clearly, age has not dimmed their vitality or their enthusiasm.

SLF was founded by Jake Burns in Belfast circa 1977. Inspired by the new breed of bands like The Vibrators and The Clash, Burns immediately took to songwriting and performing. Being a product of the rough upbringing and turbulence that Northern Ireland had to offer. The material created by Burns and performed by the band became the blueprint for revolutionary punk rock with a purpose. Their first album Inflammable Material debuted at #14 on the UK charts, and had staple tracks like "Wasted Life" and "Suspect Device." It was an instant classic, a must-have album in a class with Never Mind The Bollocks by The Sex Pistols and Black Flag's Jealous Again. Everybody had it, and the band has been inspiring ever since.

Fast-forward to the present. Burns and crew continue to write songs with the same amount of feeling and purpose as they did at their incarnation. Guitar & Drum covers a range of topics that punks of all schools can relate to, from the soulless music scene described in the album's title track, to dealing with misconceptions of age and relevance ("Still Burning"). Fittingly, a tribute to long-time inspiration and colleague Joe Strummer ("Strummerville") is also found on the album.

Recording information: Sawmills Studio, Golant, Cornwall, England.

Stiff Little Fingers: Bruce Foxton (bass guitar, background vocals); Ian McCallum (background vocals); Jake Burns, Steve Grantley.

Personnel: Jake Burns, Ian McCallum (vocals, guitar); Bruce Foxton (vocals); Steve Grantley (drums, percussion).

Alternative Press (p.139) - 4 out of 5 - "[C]ue up 'Empty Sky' if you have any doubts regarding the band's vitality."
Record Collector (magazine) (pp.92-93) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]uneful, jaunty, often political punk....They'll never really grow old; there's enough power in the guitar and drums to take care of that, and this is decent barroom knockabout stuff..."