Still Little Fingers – Guitar and Drums

In the late 70s, and early 80s, punk started becoming a reality. Bands like The Vibrators, The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Ramones started popping up and forming the style of music we have come to love. Another band from that era is Stiff Little Fingers, a quartet from Belfast, Ireland. It’s been five years since their last release, but these punk veterans are back to deliver you Guitar And Drum.

The album starts off incredibly strong with the album’s title track, Guitar And Drum. The song, is the best song on the album by far. Guitar driven, pop-punk topped off with catchy, old, accented vocals. The song, which takes a look at today’s soulless music scene, has catchy and powerful lyrics, albeit simple. “I believe in the power of guitar and drum. I believe is the hope held in a song. I believe that the music makes you strong. I believe in the power of guitar and drum” Jake Burns sings during the chorus. You can’t help but sing along. Next we get to Strummerville, a loving tribute to Joe Strummer; and this is yet another good song that gets you singing along. So we’ve past two songs and are thinking “wow, this looks good”. But then it goes downhill. The rest of the songs are somewhat boring. Sure, they have a few good tracks like Who Died And Make you Elvis?, Achilles Heart, and Can’t Get Away With That; they even throw in a ska song with Be True to Yourself, but it still seems boring. There isn’t a punch or something that really grabs you other then the first two tracks and then tracks 11 and 12. It tends to be the same format, and at times the vocals are just a little weak. You can listen to it multiple times, but only the beginning will really get to you.

Stiff Little Fingers have been around for a long time. They can still make a few good hits, but some of their songs on Guitar And Drum just seem watered down. You don’t like seeing bands end, but these four fellows might want to start thinking about hanging up the mics in a couple years.