Originally published in Verbicide issue #4

Some time ago, a weary Joe Strummer visited Paul Simon backstage in admiration of his Graceland album. Simon assured Strummer that it would happen to him someday, and with The Mescaleros, it has. Strummer has taken his work with The Clash of punk-reggae a few steps further with a worldly type of music, a global punk rock. The album opens with their first single from Global A Go-Go, “Johnny Appleseed,” a steady solitary acoustic strum which gradually becomes a festival of flutes, mandolins, wurlitzers, violins, bass, percussion, and voice. The album just takes off from there into a valley of life. With each listen, new instruments come into place surrounding you in sincerity and purity. Strummer’s lyrics are as always insightful, but my favorite track is an instrumental. The final tune, “Minstrel Boy,” is a traditional song arranged wonderfully by The Mescaleros. This is a seventeen minute journey through rubble and into open sky. Lighter in the globe.

(Hellcat Records, 2798 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026)