Tuesday 5 August 2014

Stiff Little Fingers - Listen EP

Stiff Little Fingers tenth single. I must admit I had stopped listening to SLF at their sixth single "Nobody's Hero" and only ever bought their first two albums. So when Longy asked for this one, I had never heard of it. I found the vinyl for £2 so thought it was worth a go, and I was surprised at how good "Listen" is, its a bit more commercial than their older material and has a bit of "the Skids" sound which is no bad thing.

Four tracks on this EP, "Listen" is the stand out track for me. Second up is "Sad Eyed People" which is another little gem that will hook you instantly. Next up is "That's When Your Blood Bumps" and finally "Two Guitars Clash", both OK, but not strong enough for me. So give these a try and see what you think and leave a comment.

On the strength of listen I tracked down and purchased the album (only £4 on Amazon - see link below) that these came from and was pleasantly surprised how good it is. It's now got me thinking I'm gonna have to try some of the other albums that I didn't buy.

What do you reckon on the clothes then? Leave a comment a tell ASFM.

Band: Stiff Little Fingers
Label: Chrysalis
Year: 1982
Tracks:
1. Listen
2. Sad Eyed People
3. That's When Your Blood Bumps
4. Two Guitars Clash

Ripped from glorious scratched vinyl:

If you like this then you can get all four tracks plus more for £4 here:

Now Then by Stiff Little Fingers (Audio CD - 2004)
Buy new: £3.98

and if for some strange reason you haven't got these, then here are the best two album from SLF (both £4 each bargain)
Inflammable Material
Nobody's Heroes

14 comments:

Rupert Cook said...

Never went further than the first LP which is as essential as the first Clash LP. That cover is confusing, looks like half the band want to be mods and the others want to be Topshop punks.
I remember thinking Listen was ok but when I thought of the blistering power of Suspect Device I couldn't bring myself to buy it.

Now my music taste has broadened I might snap it up if I see it for a £1 in MVE.

Punkzer0 said...

Hi Rupert, thanks for the comment, made me laugh, as you sound just like me. I was really hard and strict in my younger days in terms as what i would find acceptable, but as I have got older and mellowed I find I like a lot more. This will never match the first album and the first couple of singles, but it had me singing along.

Rupert Cook said...

Did you get the music I sent you?

I think I scared my parents singing along to Suspect Device, they thought I was off to join the IRA.

Punkzer0 said...

ha ha, my mum and dad hated punk, when they saw the pistols being interiewed by bill grundy, I was laughing and they were saying its disugsting. Typical generation gap. When I bleached my hair I had to leave home (well also they kept asking me to turn the music down), too much moaning, so of to Brixton I went and had a great time.

yes, i did get the music, thanks very much. I left a comment on the request posting as well and I emailed you, all done this morning. Catching up takes ages. I'm gonna post the igenerents next week.

Anonymous said...

Nice one Gary. Came up trumps yet again. Top man!




Longy

Anonymous said...

I gave up after Nobody's Hero as well. But the first album deserves to be up there with the Clash debut as far as i'm concerned.

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for this one. I've been looking for it for a very long time, and actually think I made a request here on this excellent page!

Stiff Lttle Fingers always made very, very good live performances here in Stockholm, that made it easier to hang on to the band longer.
Their first gig in Stockholm at the (Totally Packed, forged tickets circulated) Music Palais is among my top 5 concerts ever.
Robert - Stockholm

David Strongos said...

Hi man, thanks for the post, I don't listen to Sad Eye People since lost a tape in the mid 80's. Great blog....

Punkzer0 said...

Hi Longy, no problem, thanks for putting it on my radar.

Punkzer0 said...

Hi anon, I agree the first SLF album is outstanding. My favourite track is still "Barbed Wire Love" I love the mix of doo wop, beach boys and punk, outstanding.

Punkzer0 said...

Hi Robert, apologies if I got the request wrong. SLF were a good band live, I saw them on a number of occasions.

Punkzer0 said...

Hi Strongos, no problem, its always good to find those long lost tracks you used to have.

Anonymous said...

Great.
Thanks for uploading Nobody's Heroes.

Punkzer0 said...

Hi Panole thanks for the comment, I assume you meant the Listen Ep as I didn't upload Nobody heroes.