Reviewing live bands isn't as much fun as you might think. Unlike the rest of the punters, you can't just get wasted and enjoy the show. You actually have to remember what happened so you can write about it the next day. Sometimes you do get to meet interesting people however. At a recent Anti Nowhere League, I bumped into Ronnie (who was from Fife) who proved to be more entertaining than most of the support acts as he recounted his adventures as a punk fan over the years. It got me to thinking about all those bands that I used to listen to. So the Bluesbunny Vinyl Vault was duly opened and a copy of Stiff Little Finger's second single "Alternative Ulster" was extracted.
1978 - the year of this single's release - seems a long time ago now. What that wondrous understatement again? Yes, the "Troubles" (!) were in full force and the voice of youthful rebellion found itself form in punk. Unlike style obsessed Londoners, punk drew directly from the lifeblood of Belfast and, looking back now, this does seem more a song about hope than rebellion. Jake Burn's rough vocals express the anguish of the times but you are left uplifted by it. It's a classic and it is not difficult to understand why.
I have to say that the flipside "78 R.P.M." was not a song that I even recall listening to. It's quite an intelligent song however. Revolution is the theme here and I'm sure back then a hell of a lot people in Belfast thought it was time for one.
When I think of the number of records that's I hear in a year these days and how few of them actually excite me, you sometimes have to wonder what the point of it all is. Punk was fresh and different back then but what do we have in its place today? Maybe it is just that no one has anything to say anymore preferring the vicarious thrills of videoing everything that somebody (or anybody) else does on their 5 megapixel camera phone. 30 years later and this country has become a nation of voyeurs. Kind of sad really…