Stiff Little Fingers - Nobody's Heroes (1980)

We just told them "wait and see"...

  

Released March 1980

Fingers’ best, in my opinion. The rough edges of “Inflammable Material” had been smoothed off. It sounds better, particularly in its current remastering.

TRACK LISTING

1. Gotta Getaway
2. Wait and See
3. Fly The Flag
4. At The Edge
5. Nobody's Heroes
6. Bloody Dub
7. Doesn't Make It All Right
8. I Don't Like You
9. No Change
10. Tin Soldiers                                                      

Punk albums were already somewhat passé by 1980, but there was still room for Belfast’s finest to give us this. The old “side one” is a classic - the great bass intro to “Gotta Getaway” and the autobiographical “Wait And See” about the band’s travails) are a great start. 

The anti-government/British Empire “Fly The Flag” with its “Rule, Britannia” guitar kick keeps up the pace and we finish with the frenetic hit single, “At The Edge”, and the title track “Nobody’s Hero” that sees Jake Burns spitting out the lyrics with typical throaty venom against the back drop of that punk 1-2 drum beat.

The old “side two” sees the quality drop just a little. The punky reggae instrumental “Bloody Dub” is ok, but a bit of a waste really, however, their cover of The Specials’ “Doesn’t Make It Alright” is a triumph. “I Don’t Like You” and “No Change” are a bit throwaway, but the album finishes with another Fingers classic, “Tin Soldiers” with its marching beat and menacing guitars.

I don’t think it got much better than this for SLF. Subsequent albums didn’t reach these highs, times changed and they became a bit of an irrelevance, but not in 1980. They were still up with the pulse, particularly with the "white reggae" stuff.

I saw them live many times. They put on a seriously energetic, committed show. Bristling with excitement. Thanks for some great memories lads!

B-