London Calling Atlanta GA

London Calling

The Clash

Epic Records, 1979

REVIEW BY: Sean McCarthy

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 11/18/1997

As many of the punk bands of the late 70s blew their brains outwith a double-barrel shotgun of nihilism, The Clash were given theuneasy honor of making some of the first sounds of a new decade.Punk's remaining trump card pulled out a full betrayal of all thepunk values that stifled so many bands with their epic, London Calling.

Joe Strummer and Mick Jones violated such sacred punkcommandments as "Thou shalt not create a double album", "Thou shaltnot in any way dare to experiment with other musical performingforces, such as violins" and the most cardinal sin of all:"Thoushalt not possess any motivation to do anything about the problemsthat you're bitching about in your albums".

That all said, London Calling, though a bit torn and frayed 17 years later,still remains a seminal piece of music. Strummer's bitter confusionand Mick Jones's pop-smart earnestness gel together perfectly for70 minutes. Their musicianship on London Calling rivals that of the best material made by thedualism of McCartney/Lennon or Richards/Jagger.

The first side of London Calling paint a mustard yellow picture of theupcoming decade. "The ice age is coming/the sun's zooming in",Strummer rasps on the title track. Personal apocalypse is only apart of the misery though. The Clash incorporate the strugglers ofthe Spanish War ("Spanish Bombs"), the tale of an alienated addict("Hateful") as well as the drunken car wreck eulogy to MontgomeryCliff ("The Right Profile"). Some light does appear throughout theshelled out haze the Clash lays down in the first half of thealbum. "Rudie Can't Fail" is a great Irish pub style drinkinganthem boasting a Bo Diddley riff.