Review of Still Burning: The Story of Stiff Little Fingers

Introduction

When it comes to major Irish exports, the main mentions of course go to Guinness, U2 and the lovely Eire lilt. But, if you`re one of those people who think Guinness tastes like liquid arse, Bono and the boys are rubbish pop-poseurs too soft to rock and the lull of the Irish brogue makes you want to repeatedly whack Eamonn Holmes over the head with his shoe, you`re more likely to turn to happier thoughts when you think of the Emerald Isle, thoughts like sitting in a lush green meadow surround by those lovely Corr girls.

One of Ireland`s least appreciated commodities is Belfast`s Stiff Little Fingers, the punk quartet formed during the darkest days of the troubles of the early seventies. More musically competent than most of their peers, their sound was (and still is) an amalgamation of the Ramones` energy, The Clash`s politicking and the Sex Pistols` attitude, and more than any other punk group of the era, their hard yet melodious sound can be heard reverberating through to the pop-punk which proves to be so popular today, in everything from the iffy bopping of Blink 182 to the sublime Bad Religion. As GQ magazine put it with a quote which opens the documentary, "In an ideal world, Green Day would be paying these boys royalties till doomsday".

`Still Burning` is a 90-minute documentary that reminisces on their humble beginnings, through various ups and downs, to present day; the complete story of Stiff Little Fingers.

Video

While the bulk of the footage is a mixture of various talking head-style interviews in various surroundings, edited into the feature frequently is the band playing at Ulster Hall in 2007. The interview footage is presented in 1:78:1 (although judging by the lower res and off-framing, some of it seems to be cropped and blown up from 1.33:1), while the gig material is 1.33:1 stretched. The quality wavers between decent, with little more than a touch of aliasing, to some of the footage being grainy and suffering from a severe case of macroblocking. The DVD is heaving with content and it would have been better suited to being spread over two discs.

Audio

Standard Dolby Digital 2.0, the sound quality is fine; clear with good separation throughout. No subtitles.

Features

`Inflammable Material: 30th Anniversary Performance`: The entire debut album is performed in front of a packed house at Ulster Hall, Belfast. A 40-minute set, the band tears through the songlist, including classics like `Suspect Device` and `Alternative Ulster`, with a young man`s enthusiasm. Although the punk look may be gone for both the band and many of their fans, replaced with the look of middle-aged, balding men who sweat a lot, it`s a cracking set performed brilliantly.

There`s also over an hours worth of extended interviews with most of the contributors, from band to management to fans, most of which cover material not brought up in the feature.

Buried amongst the interviews is a bonus live performance of `Gotta Gotta Get Away` from the 70s.

Conclusion

You know what to expect when you stick a music documentary in for a spin; a history lesson filled with anecdotes rolling along to the tune of the band. On that front, `Still Burning` doesn`t disappoint. Where it does let down a little and differ in production values from the likes of a television-commissioned documentary is in the lack of vintage footage of the band in their youth. There`s no narration, and the entire feature is carried by the interviews with the band and other contributors, including input from band members of `The Buzzcocks` and `The Outcasts`. What is refreshing is the band`s candour and honesty and the no frills approach to documenting the history of a seminal band. Despite the name, Stiff Little Fingers were anything but stiff, and their fast, aggressive punk sound was infused with relevancy and harmony in equal measure; this disc is a perfect compliment to their impressive discography.