Stiff Little Fingers formed in 1977 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Along with the likes of The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Damned, Buzzcocks, Sham 69 – they were there at the start of the punk rock movement. Inflammable Material still burning today!

They wrote initially about their own lives, growing up at the height of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, in songs like "Suspect Device" and "Wasted Life". In November of '77, they released those two songs on their own Rigid Digits label and sent a copy to BBC Radio One DJ John Peel, who started playing it every night.

These were the first of what became SLF's signature style: lyrics that meld the personal and political, music that combines the energy of punk with infectious hooks, and delivery that rings of honesty and commitment. In 1979 they became the first band ever to hit the UK top 20 album charts on an independent label with their debut Inflammable Material. The album chronicles the band's anger and frustration at "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland, and calls on youth to create their own reality.