The Clash made their splash playing raucous punk rock earmarked by a twin chainsaw guitar attack and Joe Strummer’s strained vocal barks, so it’s easy to forget that they could create some lovely music. See Sandinista!’s “Rebel Waltz” and “Charlie Don’t Surf,” London Calling’s “Death or Glory,” and Combat Rock’s “Straight to Hell.” The boy who used to scream “White Riot!” realized there are other ways to be heard than shouting fire in a crowded theater, and there is no denying t [Read More...]
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This is Joe singing, playing, and writing at the height of his considerable powers. Unlike Paul Simon and others who’ve delved into certain ethnic-musical stylings and come off like someone doing just that, Joe moves thru world-beat polyrhythms and folky sounds and straight R&R in a way that makes the sounds wholly his own, as if they’ve been absorbed thru his skin like, as he says, the rays of the morning sun. I saw Joe just a couple months ago and the new stuff, the stuff from this album, came off extremely well. The Mescaleros are a top-notch band, aiding and abetting Joe as he fought the law, lived by the river, and went straight to hell with as much grace and power as they do on the Xray material. Yalla Yalla was downright hypnotic, causing the entire packed club to bob and nod like one big neon-lit protoplasmic entity. Nitcomb is so pensively sweet and Willesden so purely evocative, I have to say that there are few others - Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, and of course Bob Dylan, come to mind - who can compete on Joe’s level. The thing I like most about this album tho, is the way it grows on you. I played it and liked a couple things. Played it again and thought it was alright. Played it again and started smiling, and a week later my jaw was aching with the never-ending grin of near-musical orgasm. This is the best thing I’ve heard this year, and it would make the top 5 of almost any year I can recall. Joe’s the man.
There is beautiful music on this disk. It is one of my favorite records, praise I would not hand out frivolously. Joe’s music here is rich, textured, subtle, worldly, gentle, introspective… but it is also catchy, energetic and charged. Like the Clash catalog, this album is a progression forward with musical exploration. Clash records didn’t always strike gold, but you can’t accuse Joe of recording the same album twice. The music on X-Ray achieves power without over using the typical “punk” techniques of loud volume, machine-gun drums (sorry Topper) or excessive angst. It’s like sitting down with an older wise man and letting his experience and insightfulness dazzle you gently without explosions or exaggeration to hold your attention. There is a toned muscular confidence on this album that keeps the listener there. The music is solid. There is no shortage of ideas or over used ones like the case with Sandinista. Each song has it’s own clear identity. This is the 80’s album Robert Plant wishes he could have made when he was pretentiously toiling in World music and coming up dull and duller.
Put this disk in the car stereo and go for a drive. By the time “Diggin’ the New” and “Forbidden City” kick in, you will already be in a great state of mind.