 JOE
STRUMMER & THE MESCALEROS >> STREETCORE. HELLCAT 2003.The music was
his master. The people were his muse. And we, the listeners, were
just plain fortunate to have crossed paths with him. Mohawk-sporting
punks, anarchistic hippies, and all the folks who could read between
and live outside the lines are all better for it.
Punk rock, reggae, hip-hop, and world music rhythms made up his mad bag of universal sounds and his posthumous release StreetCore reflects Joe Strummer the way he should be remembered: Honest. Driven. Biting. Humane. His legacy of protest-singing goes out on a strong, if not defiant, note. “Ramshackle Day Parade” takes on the underhanded dealings of the “deranged cowboys bringing out the bombers of sovereign right,” and Strummer wonders aloud if the mess we are in could have been avoided. But the most telling and haunting track is a cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” With help from producer Rick Rubin, Tom Petty Heartbreaker Benmont Tench, and the legendary Smokey Hormel on guitar, it’s a bare and bone-chilling plea from Uncle Joe to keep vigilant and stand up for your rights. “Long Shadow” was originally written for Johnny Cash, and reflects the sadness and cadence of the Man in Black. The meaning is deeper than its finite, three-minute time span on wax. It’s an acoustic opus to the lost, whose saving grace is rock-n-roll. StreetCore is brilliantly executed in a manner that reflects the grave tragedy of Joe Strummer. A life lost too young, and one that meant so much to so many. By Tim Donnelly |
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Eargasm |