Like Muddy Waters, whose final albums were among the best in his catalog, Streetcore by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros (Martin Slattery, Tymon Dogg, Simon Stanford, and Scott Shields) sends Strummer into rock & roll heaven as a roaring, laughing, snarling lion. Unlike the previous Mescaleros outings, which were rooted in various world and folk musics and tempered by rock, Streetcore anchors itself in rock & roll and deadly heavy reggae (and for anyone who needs a reminder, Strummers former band, the Clash, played reggae in the late 70s and early 80s better than a lot of that genres artists). From "Coma Girl," the albums opening track, there is no doubt that Strummer hits bedrock with this fusion of garage band wail and dread beat. The song uses lean and mean guitars and Phil Spectors 60s girl groups, then crosses them rhythmically with rocksteady basslines and enormous backbeats. Yes, it does sound like a lost cut from London Calling. A love song for a wasted mascot who flirts and inspires the various metaphorical socio-political gangs that are trying to rule the dawn of the end of the world, Strummer and band -- the Mescaleros, with their killer rhythms, over-the-red-line guitar, and keyboard lines as tight and tough as anybody out there -- truly find the flowers borne by suicide divas in the dustbin of the apocalypse. Writing like Bob Dylan at his most expressionistic, Strummers urgency is beyond the warnings of the Clashs London Calling or Sandinista! Strummers protagonist is living on the nether edge of reality, where the worst has already happened, he can only celebrate whats left in the ashes of civilization. Listening to the crunchy rocksteady thunder in "Go Down Moses," with its monstrous dubbed-out bass and lyrics about the sellout of the world wholesale, listeners can hear Strummer laughing in the face of all the darkness multinationalism can muster. "Long Shadow," with its minor-key architecture and acoustic guitars played in pure Americana rambling style, was written for Johnny Cash but never recorded. Its protagonist crosses deserts and rivers; he haunts the places of desolation in order to speak with the voice of the Storyteller. The songs style and spirit evoke the ghost of Cisco Houston as Strummer sings: "Ill tell you one thing that I know/You dont face your demons down, you gotta grapple with em Jack/And pin em to the ground...And I hear punks talk of anarchy/I hear hobos on the railroads/I hear mutterings on the chain gangs/It was those men who built the roads/And if you put it all together/You didnt even once relent/You cast a long shadow/And that is your testament...." Other rockers include the burning revolution drama of "Arms Aloft," with a refrain that is among the most anthemic and raucous Strummer ever wrote. With wah-wah guitars, distorted bass, boombastic drums and cymbals, it is the hardest rocking track on the set. Also strong are the searing "All in a Day," with its razor-wire Telecaster stomp, and the medium to slow heaviness of "Burnin Streets." There are two covers on Streetcore. First is a deeply moving reading of Bob Marleys "Redemption Song," played acoustically by Strummer, Smokey Hormel, and Benmont Tench, and produced by Rick Rubin. This is the only cut that the Mescaleros dont appear on; it wasnt recorded for this set but is included by Luce (Strummers widow) and the band as a hinge piece for the front and back of the album to hang on, and it works gloriously. The other is the closer, a cover of the Bobby Charles classic "Before I Grow Too Old," retitled here "Silver and Gold." Its a barroom song played in elegiac, Anglo country style -- think of the Mekons on Fear and Whiskey. Strummers last line in the song is, "Ive got to hurry up before I grow too old," before he speaks to us in his grainy Cockney voice, "OK, thats a take." Its almost as unbearable as it is unforgettable. Streetcore is the sound of Joe Strummer hitting his stride with his own band on his te to be continued...

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