Digging Up BonesJoe Strummer & The Mescaleros
Streetcore
(October 21, 2002 – HellCat/Epitaph)
Had Joe Strummer lived to see this release, the outcome would have been different. Since every musician is either a self-flagellating tyrant or a delusional buffoon – and often a combination of the two in any given moment – there’s nothing gained in speculating about how it would have been different. Strummer died unexpectedly of heart failure in December of 2002, and the record wasn’t finished. A gaggle of folks, including a couple of the Mescaleros and a Rick Rubin, saw the production through to its release ten months later.
Strummer purists might have a fit, but I'll have my cake and eat it too. I like to think that Strummer was well on the way to his finest collection since he broke up The Clash with his Mick Jones Communique. Also, I think that he would have fallen short without relinquishing the production reins. (See his catalogue up to Streetcore.) Sometimes you can’t see the barn for the horses. (See paragraph one, line two.)
Did I say there was nothing gained through speculation?
Streetcore opens with an average, pop-punk number, “Coma Girl”. Nothing to get riled up about, but it grows on you in a mindless-fun way. Then the Mescaleros "let that ragga" drop with “Get Down Moses,” a fine drum-and-bass groove with evocative lyrics and plenty of Stratocaster and Hammond in just the right spots. Enter unadorned acoustic guitar and deep, melodic vocals in a tribute to Johnny Cash, “Long Shadow.” The scenery quickly shifts again with a pounding rocker about…well, rockin’ (or rioting) in “Arms Aloft.” “Ramshackle Day Parade,” a plaintive, sing-along, fit for Combat Rock follows. There’s a break for a cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” then Streetcore starts to rumble again…
I’ll snuff the urge to pummel you with notes on notes. Just these: Strummer’s vocals are nowhere stronger, the scope is broad, the lyrics are intelligent, and the production is stellar… and I don’t give a damn who produced it. Streetcore is Clash quality.
Strummer purists might have a fit, but I'll have my cake and eat it too. I like to think that Strummer was well on the way to his finest collection since he broke up The Clash with his Mick Jones Communique. Also, I think that he would have fallen short without relinquishing the production reins. (See his catalogue up to Streetcore.) Sometimes you can’t see the barn for the horses. (See paragraph one, line two.)
Did I say there was nothing gained through speculation?
Streetcore opens with an average, pop-punk number, “Coma Girl”. Nothing to get riled up about, but it grows on you in a mindless-fun way. Then the Mescaleros "let that ragga" drop with “Get Down Moses,” a fine drum-and-bass groove with evocative lyrics and plenty of Stratocaster and Hammond in just the right spots. Enter unadorned acoustic guitar and deep, melodic vocals in a tribute to Johnny Cash, “Long Shadow.” The scenery quickly shifts again with a pounding rocker about…well, rockin’ (or rioting) in “Arms Aloft.” “Ramshackle Day Parade,” a plaintive, sing-along, fit for Combat Rock follows. There’s a break for a cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” then Streetcore starts to rumble again…
I’ll snuff the urge to pummel you with notes on notes. Just these: Strummer’s vocals are nowhere stronger, the scope is broad, the lyrics are intelligent, and the production is stellar… and I don’t give a damn who produced it. Streetcore is Clash quality.
JH
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