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Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material

Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material cover

Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material

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Pre-order. Available 16 Apr 2026
$19.79 RRP $21.99 Website price saving $2.20 (10%)

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Description

Situating the band and its groundbreaking debut within the context of The Troubles, this book explores the band's complicated and controversial relationship with the Belfast punk scene, a scene that actively defied violent social divisions to create important non-sectarian spaces through which an “Alternative Ulster” was imagined and put into practice.

Stiff Little Fingers' 1979 debut album, Inflammable Material, was the first independent album to ever reach the UK Top 20 and is regarded as one of the most influential punk releases of all time, containing the singles “Suspect Device” and “Alternative Ulster.” Inflammable Material was both a product of, and response to, The Troubles, the era of political violence in Northern Ireland that claimed more than 3,500 lives over three decades.

Though Inflammable Material was regarded as the clarion call for that scene, with anthemic songs now regarded as synonymous with the times, the band was often viewed with suspicion and outright hostility by many of their contemporaries.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Preface

1. Belfast, Punk and the Troubles
2. From Highway Star to Stiff Little Fingers
3. The Singles: “Suspect Device” and “Alternative Ulster”
4. The Songs of Inflammable Material in the context of the Troubles
5. After Lighting the Match: SLF's troubled relationship with Belfast Punk
6. Punkwashing: The Legacy of SLF and Punk in Belfast
Bibliography
Notes

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 16 Apr 2026
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 112
ISBN 9798765133248
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 165 x 121 mm
Series 33 1/3
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Kevin Dunn

Kevin Dunn is Associate Professor in the Departmen…

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