STRUMMER

Joe Strummer will be missed.

As I mentioned earlier, last month I picked up Joe's final album Streetcore, performed with his band the Mescaleros. It's a wondrous fusion of country, reggae, punk and pure rock n' roll.

While I missed out on his previous album, Global a Go-Go, I would agree with the NYT's Ratliff that this was Strummer's best work since Sandinista. Though somewhat removed musically from the Clash, it's at times lyrically retrospective – dropping in references to 'London Burning' and 'London Calling' – and, as such, to a long-time Clash fan it's as enjoyable as drinks with an old friend.

The opening track, 'Coma Girl,' is pure rock n' roll. If this were a better world it would have been a hit. 'Get Down Moses' and his cover of 'Redemption Song' are two of the most mature reggae/dub numbers Strummer has ever performed. 'Long Shadow,' reportedly written for the late Johnny Cash, is a beautiful piece of Americana – showing that Joe clearly wasn't bored with the USA - though he never liked it's politics or Hollywood's pop culture. 'Arms Aloft' hits punky high notes, reminiscent as much of the Beatles early days in Hamburg as it is to the Clash.

Closing track 'Silver and Gold,' a cover of Bobby Charles' 'Before I Grow Too Old,', gave me chills. Like Joey Ramone's 'Don't Worry About Me,' it feels as if Strummer had a sense of his own fate - “I'm gonna do everything silver and gold – and I've got to hurry up before I get too old.”

Strummer's words, written for Cash, could be a tribute to himself: “If you put it all together, you didn't even once relent/ You cast a long shadow, and that is your testament/ Somewhere in my soul, there's always rock & roll."

It's a great album. I wish there were more to come.