Stiff Little Fingers
Hanx!

THE REVIEW

Hanx! Acronym for Adrenaline in Its Purest Form.

In the United States, Stiff Little Fingers weren't known at all in 1980: in that godforsaken continent, neither "Inflammable Material" nor "Nobody's Heroes" had been released, so the Yankees continued to bask in their blissful, gross ignorance built on the worship of mediocrities like Ramones, Weirdos, Avengers.

So, someone decided to quickly record a live album and to release it solely for the stars and stripes market. That way, when Stiff Little Fingers, in a few days, land in the land of cowboys, maybe someone will buy a ticket and attend the show.

Absurd, but that's exactly how one of the most beautiful on-stage testimonies of what punk rock is comes out.

Adrenaline in its purest form.

The Stiff Little Fingers immortalized in "Hanx!" are those of the much more palatable and yet splendid "Nobody's Heroes," so the devastating fury and rawness of "Inflammable Material" are a distant memory, even if that memory is only a little over a year old.

Eleven tracks, six from "Nobody's Heroes" and five from the debut, each more rock-solid than the last.

Jake's voice and guitar are punk to the nth degree, Jim and Ali's rhythm section beats the frenetic tempo of the performance, which burns just under forty minutes, never played so well.

The people below the stage chanting "Gotta Getaway" and intoning "Johnny Was" speak of a genuine group capable of capturing the soul of a people, just like Rory Gallagher before them.

And when the riff of "Suspect Device" arises, you understand why punk rock is the light and Stiff Little Fingers are the torchbearers.