Stiff Little Fingers
Nobody's Heroes

THE REVIEW

Tough times for Stiff Little Fingers on DeBaser: only one review dating back to March 18, 2004 (and thank goodness there's Jeremy), visited 2727 times and commented on 23 times; 5 definitions (one also mine, one also mine); appearance in 7 charts (one also mine, one also mine); and that's it. The desolation is enough to make you cry.

And luckily they are the authors of that "Inflammable Material" which I simply regard as the greatest punk album ever conceived.

But a real punk never cries, rolls up their sleeves and gets to work. This is a job for Superpinhead, so I take on the arduous task, put on the superhero tights ... and tackle "Nobody's Heroes".

Second album by SLF, following "Inflammable Material" by a year, and this misfortune has pursued it since 1980 and will continue to do so until the end of time: because how can you live up to such a predecessor? Maybe, to console oneself, you can think of those who had it worse, for example that poor chap "Give'em Enough Rope" squeezed between "The Clash" and "London Calling." So I play the fool and, in this review, for me "Inflammable Material" doesn't exist.

So, where was I?

Ah yes, "Nobody's Heroes," the brilliant debut album by Stiff Little Fingers, the one that looks like a barcode. Five stars, no question.

And for those with time to spare, I’d just like to remind you that this album is a joyous parade of classics.

The first five tracks, to say the least. What can you say to “Gotta Getaway”, “Wait And See”, “Fly The Flag”, “At The Edge” and “Nobody's Hero”? Simply perfect tracks in a punk perspective: three chords, tight rhythms, fast and sharp, a rough and ungraceful voice, but also a singable melody that fits well, some reggae and dub inserts.

Easy, right? So easy that a track like this appears once every five years. Well, this album has five of them all together, one after the other. And it doesn’t stop there.

Because on side B, after the instrumental “Bloody Dub”, it kicks off again with “Doesn't Make It All Right”, freshly taken from the Specials’ repertoire, perfect union between punk and reggae as we haven't heard since the beginnings of the Clash and Ruts (or “Johnny Was”, if there were any random "Inflammable Material"), and wraps up with the momentum of “Tin Soldiers”; in the middle, “I Don't Like You” and “No Change”, two excellent tracks but not milestones, so I won't link them, if you want, put in a little effort to find them online.

To sum up: 10 tracks in total, of which 7 immediately become classics of the SLF repertoire and of punk in general, and the best thing would be to listen to them again on the shortly subsequent "Live Hanx!".

It's more than enough for me to state that "Nobody's Heroes" is an absolute masterpiece. Even if it comes after "Inflammable Material"; and maximum respect for the Stiff Little Fingers for not flattening out on that cliché.

For those who don't think so, too bad for them!

Mission accomplished. And now off, faster than a Ramones concert towards other reviewing adventures ...