Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros: Streetcore

A coworker and I were discussing his latest CD purchases when he presented this gem to me to listen to and enjoy. I knew Joe Strummer's name from my love of The Clash, but was only aware of his solo works due to tunes in soundtracks, most notably, "Gross Pointe Blank."

It took me a while to actually pay attention to Streetcore as I would listen to it at work and zone out. But, one afternoon on a drive home, I actually started paying attention to it and found it to be a truly wonderful work.

Coming from a guy who was the voice of The Clash, you half expect some aging punk star trying to stick to glory days. But Strummer's sound seems have matured just right with a nice blend of punk, raggae, acoustic, and good ol' rock 'n' roll.

Coma Girl starts the album off in a fairly straightforward rock way. It's construction is pretty average, but it's still got a great beat. And then gears get changed on the next tune, Get Down Moses which has a wonderful raggae sound. Long Shadow switches gears again, changing into an acoustic rock tune, and, if Strummer were alive now, would be such a great ending to an Unplugged set. Arms Aloft switches back close to the rock 'n' roll, but definitely leans towards a more Alternative song construction/sound. It's both playful and enjoyable.

In the end: If you only know The Clash, you don't know enough. This album proves a few things:
1) Just because you were in successful band many years ago, your solo works may not suck.
2) Up until the end, Strummer's voice held that same power he had in the old days, but it is now smarter, more focused.
3) You should have gone to amazon by now and bought it.

Know it. Love it. Listen to it. Repeat.

On the Web: You can find all the tracks I've mentioned and so much more off of The Hype Machine.

Technorati Tagged: Joe Strummer | Rock | The Clash