SLF's career began in 1977 with their first single, with the songs Suspect Device and Wasted Life. One about questioning everything authority tells you, and another about the shameless tactics used by army recruiters to waste away the lives of teens by trapping them into lifelong service. Right from this harsh musical start, they captured the horror of the military and the feeling of not fitting in because you see how wrong the system is.
They followed this up with Alternative Ulster, and quickly released the 1978 LP "Inflammable Material," regarded by many as some of the bands best work. It came at the same time or shortly after many more recognized bands' debut releases, such as the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks... album, The Ramones' self titled album, and The Clash's self-titled album. While overshadowed by these more popular albums, Inflammable Material showed more skill than most other albums at the time.
Soon after, the band began distributing through Chrysalis records, with the single "Straw Dogs." While the song was not memorable except for its being the band's first singles charting, its B-Side was "You Can't Say Crap on the Radio." This song was interesting because it was based on the shocked reaction of Metro Radio when the singer said "crap" in a live interview. Rather amusing in retrospect, considering what today's rockstars say in interviews.
Next came what was perhaps the peak of the Fingers' career. The "Nobody's Heroes" album. This 1980 LP Included the song At The Edge. This song, SLF's only top 20 hit, was the height of their musical career. Also on the album was Tin Soldiers, another song about young people being "trapped into dead-end lives" by the military, based on a true story.
The career of the band took a downhill turn at this point, along with their music taking a turn away from punk into just plain rock. Back to Front was an anti-racist song in response to skinhead violence near the coast, but it was not well received, being so much softer than the band's earlier work. The "Go For It" album came next. This was the transition from punk to rock. Just about the last punk song the band wrote, Silver Lining, was on the album, but it didn't fit with the straight rock theme that dominated the album. The band began using brass instruments on this album, and that was the end of their punk rock credibility.
They followed with many rock albums, still preaching the same messages as they always had, but without the intensity of their early career. Finally in 1982, Stiff Little Fingers disbanded after one last single about respecting women.
The band reformed in 1988, still under the same name, to do more touring, and released a live album, See You Up There, from tour recordings. After this, the band decided to record new material. The result of this decision was 1991's Flags and Emblems. The single from this album, "Beirut Moon", was banned in Britain because it criticized the government.
1994 saw the release of the Get A Life LP. This was followed by Tinderbox in 1997 and Hope Street in 1999. The most recent album is Guitar and Drum, released on 11 August, 2003.