BLOWIN' INDIE WIND

Author: Richard Lawless

Posthumous albums are always a touchy subject. This is especially true when considering the posthumous release of a rock icon like Joe Strummer. Should the album be handled with kid gloves because of its sentimental value? Surely no rock critic would feel uninhibitedly comfortable trashing the final album of a musician they respected immensely in the past. But at the same time, would it be right to wax sentimental on the album and give it more credit than it's due even if the music isn't truly good? Perhaps the only way to really go about reviewing such an album is to consider it both objectively and subjectively and, from there, reach a consensus.

Not dissimilar from the fates of fellow rock icons Freddy Mercury and Joey Ramone, Joe Strummer died while completing "Streetcore," his fourth solo album and third with his backing band, the Mescaleros. While Queen's "Made in Heaven" was a tad too sappy, using the tragedy of Mercury's death as an indulgent motif for remembrance and worship, Ramone's "Don't Worry About Me" was a worthy send-off that inspired a wistful reflection of his immense contribution to rock music. "Streetcore" falls into the latter category, being not only Strummer's strongest material since the disbandment of the Clash (objectively speaking), but also being a fitting, unpretentious monument to one of rock music's principal icons (sentimentally speaking).

Admittedly, to call this the best Strummer album of his post-Clash career is not a difficult task. Strummer's solo career - with and without the Mescaleros - has been rather spotty. It wasn't until 1999 that he really got back into the swing of things, releasing three albums between then and 2003. Prior to this, the former Clash frontman recorded an album in 1989 - his first solo endeavor - entitled "Earthquake Weather," after spending the previous portion of the decade acting in terrible movies ("Candy Mountain," anyone?) and periodically contributing songs to them. None of these albums were remarkable, until "Streetcore," which rekindles the passion and endearing musicianship of the Clash's greatest moments, especially their magnum opus "London Calling."

Before he died, Strummer managed to record eight of the 10 songs that make up "Streetcore" with the Mescaleros, and from the stomping groove of the opening track, "Coma Girl," there seems to be a strong sense of a reinvigorated Strummer playing the music he loves. Opening with a rhythmic muted guitar riff and Strummer's unmistakable vocals, the music is irresistible, molding dub-influenced drumming with punk guitars into a highly engaging commencement. This leads directly into the dub-indebted, rim-shot-heavy groove of "Get Down Moses," featuring one of the strongest choruses of any song on the album, fittingly augmented by a choir of horns and organs. The third track, "Long Shadow," is the listener's first taste of "Streetcore's" soft side, with Strummer passionately singing a lovely pastoral melody about America with only an acoustic guitar and some spare backing vocals to assist him. Concluding with the line "Somewhere in my soul / There's always rock n' roll," this is perhaps the ultimate message of the album. Trite as it might sound to the jaded ear: Joe may be gone, but rock n' roll will live on.

Two of the eight songs on "Streetcore" were recorded without the Mescaleros and not intentionally for the album. But after Joe's death, it only seemed fitting to include both of them, as they help give the album its sentimental, wistful side. The second of these two, also a cover, is Bobby Charles' "Silver and Gold." As the album was put together after Strummer's death, it's a deliberate career-closing number, selected as a fitting end to his last piece of work. Accompanied by fiddles, twanging guitars and a harmonica, Strummer eerily sings Charles' lyric "I've got to hurry up before I grow too old," before emitting one final yelp of joy. Though the closer is in its current context wistful, Strummer sounds like he's having the time of his life while he's singing it. Perhaps this is how he would've liked to be remembered, singing about going out dancing every night and kissing all the pretty girls with not a regret in the world. Few artists have managed a finer and more poignant yet simultaneously uplifting swan song than Joe Strummer has achieved with "Streetcore."