Whereas the Clash stenciled it and sang about it the Fingers lived it. Or did they? Originally a Deep Purple covers band in Belfast called Highway Star. Their future changed when they hooked up with Gordon Ogilvie a journalist who instigated a more radical change. Changing their name in 1977 after a Vibrators song their sound became as raw and uncompromising as their environment and for that matter Jake Burns voice.
First two singles and first album as good as anyone's. Suspect Device / Wasted Life (1978 Rough Trade), Alternative Ulster / 78 Revolutions A Minute (1978 Rough Trade). Album Inflammable Material. Great all the way through. Picks : Johnny Was and Wasted Life.
The more uncharitable would say their best work was ripped off from others. Suspect Device sounds remarkably similar to Montrose's Space Station # 5 and I believe they were sued because of this. The riff from Alternative Ulster is supposedly from a Bob Marley tune and 78 Revolutions borrows from Irish compatriots Rudi's seminal single Big Time. Personally though, who cares? Just hearing the opening bars of Alternative Ulster or Suspect Device still sends shivers own my spine and that's what counts.
From Punk77.co.uk
1978 performance. Quality 
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