In the grand scheme of things, putting "This
album is dedicated to the inspiration and memory of Joe Strummer" is gonna
surely be some kinda kick-ass kiss of death, summoning spiteful and
suspicious spirits like the crowds at hangings of highwaymen in London a
good few years back, right?Well, that's so punch drunk blindingly obvious that anyone reading this and having correct thoughts wouldn't ever be rewarded no congratulatory drink offa moi, no not even a smelly old sock dipped in vinegar. Y'know, it's a great thing to put, and perfectly true, and I'm sure they mean it as much as old Joe meant it getting Bo Diddley on tour, or going busking instead of touring as the whole carnival toppled around him, and so on...as much as anyone who'd emblazon it across their record sleeve. Hey, maybe I'm reading too much into it cos I figure - no shit - that he kicked that leaking old bucket just as they were writing, recording, or finishing this album - it's just that there's a small niggling factor here in that there's not the slightest inkling of the man Mellors inspiration to be found in here. Ok, too, liking the Clash don't mean you're naturally gonna be the most inspired or experimental set of crazies around if not one of the greatest R'n'R bands of all time (I mean, just look at the Manics) but this is just way too typecast US punk of the sort that stemmed outta DK and Bad Religion for this cat with nothing such as a spark of originality, I can forgive you not being the one off that Jello, Rollins and yes Strummer are/were, to lift it up the levels needed. There are hints of Jonesy's backing singing all over songs such as Red Alert and opener 3rd World War sounds like it coulda been lifted straight from Cut The Crap - and that ain't no sly put down with that being a particularly shite waste of plastic and moreover stylus, just play it along with CtC's Do It Now, terrace chant chorus galloping rhythms - and Face Off just runs away with the riff to White Riot, running so far that it should be used in the song more to stop it being so poor. A slight return in the redemption hall comes with the closer Heroes By Choice, a self explanatory, in light of what said before, acoustic romp. Tho even then, I always had the nagging feeling that these screechy guitars were gonna come in and ruin it. Waiting there in limbo as tho I'm about to start an Olympic 100, all clenched up ready to snatch it out the player the moment the obvious happened. But, folks, as all tales must come to an end, thankfully this is a happy one as they defied the obvious and saved me the need to replace some furniture...and feet.
-Stu