Strummer, Joe and the Mescaleros
Streetcore
(Hellcat)

Distillation: this is how Joe Strummer defines “Streetcore,” his last album with the Mescaleros. In notes scrawled on the back of the CD case, Strummer defines the album as such: “This is a distillation thru the mindbending coil condensing – Streetcore.” He sees this album as the result of knowledge and combination of reggae, dub, funk, blues, jazz, fok and hip-hop. Successfully, it is. Strummer died last year before this album was finished, but had completed vocals on these ten songs. They’re ten good vocal performances (nine of them sung), not Lennon- or Tupac-style scraps culled from scratch takes. The band did a bang-up job of finishing the record. “Streetcore” is a solid, finished album with a place among Strummer’s finest work.

“Coma Girl,” the first single and first track, is a basic Joe Strummer rocker about a “Mona Lisa on a motorcycle gang,” and serves as an ease into the album. “Arms Aloft” is a distorted vocal and guitar singalong about Strummer realizing the effect his music can have on people. “May I remind you of that scene?” Essentially, it’s a reminder that when life brings you down, The Mescaleros (or The Clash, or music in general) can bring you up. “All In A Day” is another upbeat singalong (OK, all these songs make good singalongs), featuring the most energetic vocals on the album. “Hey Hello Hey!”

The Mescaleros bring the funk with “Get Down Moses.” This dense, prophetic wake-up call is driven by dub and vitalized by strings, horns, and a wicked organ riff in the chorus. “Ramshackle Day Parade” starts small as a musing on pop culture and ends as an inspiring, soaring underground anthem. “Burnin’ Streets” recalls The Clash with the “London is burning” chorus. “Midnight Jam,” a faux-radio broadcast, is mostly a synth-based, spacey instrumental punctuated by Strummer indicating “All transmitters to full…all receivers to boost…this is London Calling…” as a DJ and occasionally popping in to comment on the track.

Spread evenly through the album is a small collection of acoustic songs. The first is the boom-chicka-boom of “Long Shadow” (written for Johnny Cash), in which Strummer notes, “somewhere in my soul/there’s always rock and roll.” He tackles Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” which sounds a little dated here but touches on the “Arms Aloft” theme about the love of and need for music. “Silver and Gold,” a cover of Bobby Charles’ “Before I Grow Too Old,” is the perfect ending to a strong album. Here’s hoping Strummer got to “do everything silver and gold” while he was here, because he never got the chance to grow too old.

Does it still sound like the Clash? Yeah, sort of, but it’s more layered, and familiar without sounding antiquated. Strummer sounds older and wiser without sounding old. He always had his own style, and thankfully it’s varied enough to have been relevant all these years. Never one to shy from speaking his political peace, he left us a “press release” in the form of liner notes: “No radio/no MTV/no video format/I resent this whole process on behalf of younger parties…let’s not joke around/this process marks you.” Well said, Joe. This is just one nugget of wisdom found on “Streetcore,” and it’s a shame we aren’t going to have any more. While you’re taking advice, listen to Tim Armstrong of Rancid and “keep listening to the great Joe Strummer/’cause through music, we can live forever.” Well said, Tim, well said.

-Mario


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