10 7" Singles That Defined Punk

6. Suspect Device - Stiff Little Fingers (1979)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKsN5cj9ehs In High Fidelity (the film adaptation), one of record store owner Rob€™s geeky vinyl-collecting co-workers introduces a customer to Stiff Little Fingers by billing them as one of Green Day€™s major influences. A subsequent spin of €˜Suspect Device€™ sees a fellow customer enquiring, humorously, whether this is €˜the new Green Day album€™ and the two bands do indeed share striking similarities, from their penchant for spiky guitar riffs to their bratty, whiny vocals. However, there€™s absolutely no question that Green Day are a watered-down version of SLF with the Northern Irish band€™s venom and attitude the realistic by-products of growing up amidst €˜the Troubles€™ in Ireland. Crucially, €˜Suspect Device€™ references the paranoia and hatred that permeated the Emerald Isle in the 1970s. In an environment of mutual suspicion between the opposing Nationalists and Unionists, Jake Burns articulates how the powers that be choose to neglect the tensions tearing the country apart by papering over the cracks, €˜putting up the wall€™ and €˜dealing us to the bottom€™ to intensify, rather than resolve, this ingrained animosity. The music is just as urgent as Burns' political bent with a searing guitar line and energetic bass supporting the front man's incitement to change and exposition of the impotency of bureaucratic governments. It€™s left ambiguous whether SLF were advocating radicalism in terms of violent demonstrations but they certainly advocated radicalism in terms of intellectual thought- the choice to ignore authority and engage with the fractured state around you. Tenacious and unwavering, putting your finger in an electric socket will leave you feeling less shocked and exhilarated than spinning this extraordinary single!