Stiff Little Fingers – Nobody's Heroes (1980)

This is the second album from a 5CD Original Album Series which I picked up many years ago, consisting of their first four studio albums and a live one.

It's their second album, and to my untrained ears, sounds much more coherent than their debut Inflammable Material, which I felt was 20 minutes of great and 20 minutes of filler.

Jake Burns' voice is very much an acquired taste, and I'll admit I struggle at times with the roughness of it, but the songs here seem to have been written far more with his range in mind, and there are some decent songs here. It opens at high speed with the engaging Gotta Get Away, while Wait And See sounds like it's settling a few scores, with an odd reggae break in the middle. Fly The Flag and At The Edge, are fast, furious punk songs leading to the fantastic single Nobody's Heroes to finish the first half.

It's a strange start to the second half, with a reggae beat - the innocuous Bloody Dub, and a well meaning cover of Specials' Doesn't Make It All Right, which doesn't really add anything to the original, but makes clear the band's political stance. I Don't Like You and No Change are both solid and unspectacular, and it's left to the powerful hit single Tin Soldiers to save the second half.

This feels a far more satisfying album than their debut, more consistent, but lacking anything as in your face as Alternative Ulster.

Link to full album

3* - a decent late punk listen