Paste's Top 18 Clash Songs + another 18 worth your time

via

You can view them here. They have pretty good, informed reasons for each one, but since most of them were released as singles or are the ones every talks about (though I'd definitely put "Straight to Hell" at number 1--it's #18 on their list), I thought I'd compile a list of 18 more Clash songs that are worth your time.*

*(Though of course, my ultimate list is the top [however-many-songs-the-Clash-made-altogether] Clash songs since they're all worth your while. . . yes, even "Mensforth Hill" (ok maybe not), and yes, I suppose except those last 12 tracks, at the end, though I think I've drank the "This Is England"-is-a-good/(ok)-track Kool-Aid.)

And honestly, these are in the order they come to mind, numbered only so you know that there is actually 18 of em without having to count. (links to Youtube.)

18. Cheat - this is such a nice mean song, and punk rockers have been trying to figure out how to do that ever since the Clash did it. The best they've done is drop f-bombs, posture, and bitch about stuff. Take the Rancid cover of this one-- good cover, I like it, but even a band known for being lyrically & image-wise meaner, cruder and more obviously "angry" than the Clash still can't make this song as much as a fuck-off as the Clash do.

17. The Card Cheat - the Clash do melodrama.

16. London's Burning - the Clash do ennui and answer the question: is it possible to be angry about ennui? It is for the Clash.

15. Something About England - this one semi-chokes me up the way "Straight to Hell" does each time, a thousand times after the first time. Plus the Strummer-Jones dialogue play works wonders for the story-telling format, giving the listener a chance to experience what made this duo so dynamic. This is one of the countless Clash songs that seem prescient to the issues of today while really serving as a reference point for what has and hasn't changed since their heyday.

14. Hitsville UK -"2 min 59." There has never been another punk song like this. If there was, it would just "sound like Hitsville UK."

13. The Sound of Sinners - The Paste article, in choosing "Train in Vain" as their number 1, says "For a band whose legacy is typically derived from rebellious and political-minded attitude, “Train In Vain” represents The Clash’s musical dexterity—the most overlooked, yet defining factor of these legendary punk rockers." For those of us who listen to Clash songs besides Train in Vain, London Calling, Lost in the Supermarket, and Should I Stay or Should I Go (which are all great songs, too--some of the greatest--and funnily enough, even that selection alone proves Paste's point) this characteristic of versatility is taken for granted, so it's interesting to see this pointed out. Anyway, I think "Hitsville UK" and "Sound of Sinners" are two good examples of the group's dexterity-- the first time I heard "Hitsville UK" on the radio, I would never in a million years have guessed who did it.

12. Rock the Casbah - I wrote a paper on this in college. I don't remember what it was about, if it was about anything besides setting the lyrics in an historical/theological context (I remember something about the revolutionary spirit of Islam, which is, today, suddenly very relevant), but this is just one example of the Clash's being so rooted in the issues of their times without becoming dated.

11. The Leader - "The people must have something good to read on a Sunday." The lyrics and imagery in this one are so dense it's easy to forget this song clocks in at well under 2 minutes.

10. I'm Not Down - Yeah! There is a Clash song for every mood.

9. This Is Radio Clash - Joe Strummer might not be a great rapper, but he's better than Debbie Harry, to take an example from the same year. This one's a good example of the Clash's ability to take what was then the cutting-edge of music and put their own spin on it. (The other way to look at Debbie Harry's rapping is that she makes Joe Strummer look like a grade-A rapper. . .)

8. Sean Flynn - I've always had a soft spot for this one. . . it's quite haunting.

7. Car Jamming - "I thought I saw Lauren Bacall/I swear/Hey fellas/Lauren Bacall."

6. Stay Free - This one gets me every time, too. A nice Mick one. "Step lightly. Stay free."

5. Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad - this part always cracks me up: "AN' THEN THERE CAME THE NIGHT OF THE GREATEST EVER RAID/THEY ARRESTED EVERY DRUG THAT HAD EVER BEEN MADE." Best raid ever? Commentary on drug policy that still rings true today? In America? The Clash could see the future? (The song was about undercover cops, trained as hippies, having to drop tons of acid in a sting operation in Wales. I imagine that went from being best job ever to worst job ever pretty quickly.)

4. Charlie Don't Surf - I like Robert Duvall, okay?

3. Deny - A nice middle-finger of a song.

2. City of the Dead - You don't hear about this one much, but it's truly a great one, a confection of a punk song.

1. Midnight Log - same reason as 14 & 13. Another song whose complicated, non-stop lyrics make it hard to believe it's only, in classic punk form, a two-minute track.

Awww. 18 isn't enough. Any you guys would add? Think of it this way: someone comes up to you on the street. You figure they're not asking for change so you stick around long enough to find out they've just listened to London Calling, thought it was fab, and want to know what is the next track you'd recommend that will sink the Clash fan hook in forever. So in this highly improbably situation, what track would you name?

Photo modified from original found at Clashphotorockers.free.fr

1.2011 Top 25

I've decided that if I can remember, I'm going to start posting my Top 25 (according to ifuckUtunes) at the end of each month. Even if it's totally embarrassing. This time around, it's not horribly interesting as I still have yet to put all my music on my iTunes. I've only got 141 songs on it at the moment, and this record of songs has only been being logged since sometime in November, I think. I also only use the program maybe once a week, mostly cos there's nothing on it. (Hopefully talking about all this will inspire me to get out ye olde harde-drive and remedy the situation.)

christmas caroling with GWAR

holiday in cambodia

The more I think about this song, the more problematic I find it. Don't worry; it's not about being PC. It's just that Khmer Rouge-era Cambodia was such a shockingly weird and tragic place. The leadership operated under secrecy, they were doing things like abolishing money and clearing out the cities. The numbers from their secret prison, S-21, rare somewhere around 7 survivors for the 17,000 who went through. You had a .04% chance of getting out of there. I was assigned Voices from S-21: Terror and History in Pol Pot's Secret Prison by David Chandler to read in school and I couldn't make it all the way through. It was that disturbing.

So the song is ostensibly about rich kids in the US acting in a self-righteous manner by professing their empathy and understanding of plights less fortunate than theirs, all while driving around on the East Coast in their dad's fancy car that I couldn't even tell you the maker of.

So you been to school
For a year or two
And you know you've seen it all
In daddy's car
Thinkin' you'll go far
Back east your type don't crawl

You're right, Jello Bifra. Nobody likes those people. And you say it in such a catchy way. He next suggests that these kids should check out Cambodia in order to see how bad it can really be:

Well you'll work harder
With a gun in your back
For a bowl of rice a day
Slave for soldiers
Till you starve
Then your head is skewered on a stake.

One problem is is that that last line there is a little too Orientalist for my taste. It almost says, Oh those wacky Cambodians. They put heads on stakes just like those Polynesians do. And the Indians did. And the Vikings. It's a classic trope of barbarianism, along with, like, not wearing shoes and going months without bathing-- and barbarians, by it's etymology, is simply the group in opposition to us. That's lazy-- which is my main problem with slogans in general; it's a distillation of complex issues into a single, sensationalist soundbite that lets people be lazy about understanding those complex issues that are now lost the moment you put it on a shirt or tote bag.

In fact, the cover of the single is a picture from a 1976 student massacre in Thailand. Thailand is not the same country as Cambodia. They might all look the same, but they're not. Maybe they're the ones that put heads on stakes?

But really what it is is that the lyrics suggest that Jello Biafra's main concern is not describing the problem with the situation in Cambodia, or even exposing it to the casual listener. It's about how the existence of that situation is beneficial to him because it let's him stick it to the fat capitalist cats he has problems with. He is doing the same thing that he accuses the people in the song of doing: using the plight of others to prove a point about himself. Here he is saying that his awareness makes him superior and thus righteous. This is exactly what he says the kids in the song are doing. If we were really going to look at Cambodia under Pol Pot, you could say that that toothless bum living under the overpass has it better than the people over there. Because it's true. That shit was fucked. up. Maybe we all need to be sent back in time over there to truly realize how lucky we are-- the kids on the crew team at the Ivy Leagues, the suburban moms in their SUVs, the punk kids in their squats. But I don't think that's how people learn or solve their problems. If you spend all your time comparing your situation to the desperate conditions of others, you can't get things done.

I thought of this while reading the comments under a Youtube video of the Foo Fighters & Serj Tankian of System of a Down covering the song at the VMAs. The argument, as usual, was how nobody in the audience knew the song & they suck. First off, who cares. If you're worried about who listens to what music, and that's how you decide your tastes, you're giving them an awful lot of control-- you are giving them the power-- and not paying attention to the merits of the actual art. But it also showed me that this song hasn't sparked discussion about Cambodia, history, or even class divides. People were more interested in whether seeing this vid got people into the Dead Kennedys rather than wondering if they became interested in the Cambodia of the title-- a name perhaps only used by the song in a sensationalist, exploitative way? (Second nature to the band in light of their name.) The discussion was thus concerned with labels and constructs and superiority-- could this be the case because that's all the song is about, and the lyrics and phrases and name dropping is simply to rile people up rather than to make them think?

It's still relevant today-- some of the leaders are only just now being put on trial.

It's also too bad that kids today have taken the lyrics seriously and decided to slum it in order to gain whatever cred your scene gets you.

Play ethnicky jazz
To parade your snazz
On your five grand stereo
Braggin' that you know
How the niggers feel cold
And the slums got so much soul

That's what half the kids I knew in NYC were about-- adopting mannerisms, living habits, and addictions in order to prove that they haven't "seen it all/In daddy's car." That they've seen it at ground zero instead. You're still doing it in "daddy's car" if he's paying for your rent, coke habit, & credit card. These are all addictions they can afford, with the help of their therapists-- and I know your part-time Urban Outfitters pay can't be covering that. The style of proving one's awareness and empathy might have changed but the philosophy behind it hasn't. Nowadays, you might be living IN the slums rather than driving by them, but you're still doing it to prove that you got the "soul" that you presume these slums to have, and that they have it by virtue of deprivation. What's most reprehensible is that they are leeching off others' misfortune and it is in their interest that neighborhoods remain dangerous rather than thriving. Plus their very presence (and its purchasing power) is one of improvement through gentrification rather than community building from within.

But on the other hand, whatever. I like the song. Let's go.

5 Most Disappointing Music Videos of 2010

2010's Five Most Disappointing Videos, most of them sadly paired with really good songs.

Teenage Anarchist - Against Me! - This vid is just as bland as their sound is threatening to become. Don't get me wrong-- I like some catchy pop punk any day of the week, but I kind of want a fun video to go with it-- I need the whole package. Not the video of how the wrong stripper showed up to the lead singer's bachelor party. (Though could an argument be that this simplified view of us versus them meshes with his "teenage anarchist" ideals?)

3000 Miles Away - Star Fucking Hipsters - Same thing with this vid-- take your martyr complex out on your therapist. Not us. It presents an oversimplified vision not so much of brutality but of incarceration in general. What if the other four were, I don't know, arrested with 20 dead illegal immigrants in the back of their truck. What if they're trying to find the other 30 immigrants in their other truck? And they're orphans? In the truck? GET LENNIE BRISCOE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE GUYS! Anyway, that's not cool. And if Ethan Suplee is in this, does that mean SFH is now part of the Scientology conspiracy web that runs media? I mean, look at the production value on this: it's spiffy! (Ok. Jedi mindtrick moment is funny.)

Infinity Guitars - Sleigh Bells - I am so over anarchy cheerleaders. I didn't like it when Nirvana did it. All that goes through my head is Be Aggressive, which isn't a bad thing I suppose. This video does support my theory that hipsters are the new douchey McJocks of the decade, though.

Born Free - MIA - I remember when I liked MIA? In high school, they were playing Fire Fire on the radio and I was digging it like one of those Egyptian guys in Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Right? They excavate the Well of Souls in like, 4 hours.) Then it kind of got annoying-- then she kind of got annoying. And now this sensationalist drivel to match her revolutionary chic, something she's not even revolutionizing herself; it's always been about the flash and bang and tanks painted pink, and not about answering questions and providing information and awareness. This video takes that to the NINE MINUTE max and instead of defying expectations only has one thing to say-- MIA has nothing to say.

Florence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over 2010 Version - I'm all over the place with Florence & the Machine, and this is on here more on principle-- I can take or leave the video, which is a little bit of awkward America's Next Top Model photoshoot put in the easy-to-digest-avant-garde blender. But I think it's 100% nonsense that they've released another video when they had a perfectly decent one out their already. I couldn't tell you what the old vid looked like but this new move is a total George Lucas, this time with some backup dancers rejected from a Cramps video.

Bonus: I saw this on TV & it makes me uncomfortable.

no doubt vid

This No Doubt cover I can take or leave, much like No Doubt in general; it's got good energy. But I just saw the video (never knew there was one) and it's pretty silly in a good way.

rancid wants to help you get your weekly rancid fix

Looks like Rancid is starting up a weekly feature called "Live in the Living Room," a video series of stripped-down versions of their songs, as well as some promised covers, which is what I'm especially looking forward to.

Sez them: Rancid has started doing weekly sessions we're calling "Rancid Live In The Living Room". Every Monday a new song drops. These songs are recorded live and filmed to share with you. We are keeping it raw, no overdubs, no studio tricks. Acoustic, and electric renditions of Rancid songs varying from our entire catalog, as well as an occasional cover song.

Neato freakin mosquito. Thus far we've got "Wrongful Suspicion" and "Tenderloin," (embedded above) a swingin' version that's pretty cool. It gets my thumbs-up for being a cover that brings something new to the original; "Wrongful Suspicion" does, also, but not in the same exotic way a rockabilly "Tenderloin" does.

A long time ago I left a vague comment on one of Tim Armstrong's videos on YouTube about how he's like omg waaay into b&w high-contrast-- as in so into it every single video from his album got that visual treatment-- and people got mad at me and I never commented on YouTube again because I'm sensitive. So I was worried I was the only one who is still sick of seeing all these vids in b&w high contrast. I dig the look on stationary, unmoving images: posters, art, whatever. T-shirts. I have a Rancid t-shirt that is exactly that; it's an integral part of the punk rock aesthetic. But I find it totally uninteresting to watch as a video; the movement makes the shadows move around too much & becomes hard to follow. It's also boring. Luckily, turns out other people don't like it, as I found out from Punknews, where I first heard about the Living Room series. I take comfort in being part of the majority, I really do.

So this is totally mean but we have this running joke at home about how Matt Freeman, who is always getting cut out of videos-- FOR REAL, they cut his freakin head out of one vid (I can't remember which one, the one where Tim has the Buddy Holly glasses) so they could film tim singing, or something--sounds like a muppet. But then again, so does Joe Escalante (Exhibit A) as well as crust, in general.

(See how I sneaked in a Christmas song on Thanksgiving? Which is to say, Happy Thanksgiving everyone xoxo)

my name is b and i don't like hardcore.

We had our place sprayed for bedbugs (that we don't have this time) yesterday so everything is in bags. . . debating whether to take shit out or not, since roomie claims they will come back in 2 weeks and do it again (I hope not.)

So that means my HD is somewhere in the plastic-wrapped bookshelves (that was fun) that are making this place look like the set of the shoot out Children of Men-- I would take a picture but the camera is somewhere behind the plastic, too.

So Youtubing stuff to listen to as I get all our clothes out of their bags-- they had to go through the dryer. I have already unsuccessfully tried to get myself to like hardcore. It won't work, I think. Couldn't go in the apartment all day yesterday and so was drinking at the bar while waiting to go to work with (in proximity, listening to) a guy from Agnostic Front, which inspired this effort. I dunno. I can't do it. "Anthem" is about as far as I'll get.

Clicked on a live Rancid vid-- Lars gives an incomprehensible motivating speech to kick it off that makes me feel better for not liking hardcore- got bored of watching Tim not play his instrument & went over to the album cut-- saw this comment "Rancid is duh best punk band 4ucking ever!!!!! Punkrock ftw!!!! XD" What does "4ucking" mean? Is it "fucking"? Is it a clever portmanteau: "for fucking"-- like they are the best bad for-fucking-ever? Does this kid feel bad about using the f-word on the internet? Am I just too old?

you know what? i'm gonna get this out of the way now instead of later.

Continue reading!

Yeah, you knew it was coming.

so here's (one of) my problem with your elite PC school.

The wee kiddies told me yesterday that they are learning about "the New Year" this week and celebrating it to boot. Oh, you mean Chinese (Oriental Lunar) New Year? There are. . . there are no Asian kids in your class. I mean, I love Chinese New Year-- food, money, new clothing, family. Blar blah blar. I also love Mulan. Yeah!

Continue reading!

(See, I do.)

So this school, supposedly secular but stuffed so full of hysterically sensitive people that the kids aren't allowed to wear a Middle Eastern-type hipster scarf to school (a legit & quite beautiful one the father brought back from a business trip in Dubai or somewhere) because it's anti-Semitic, is using "ethnic" holidays to replace things like Christmas, Easter, etc as excuses to have parties in class or whatever. Which is fine, whatever, do what you want-- but don't ignore that these "ethnic" holidays have roots in religion and philosophy. It's not something quaint that slopey-eyed people do because they aren't white. On the other hand if exoticism is your goal than that's fucking weird. SO then how you gonna explain ancestor worship to these kids, hmm?

I remember in 1st grade we learned about Columbus. This was a public school in SoCal in the early 90s. When my father asked me what I had learned, I said something about how Columbus had kidnapped Indians. Because that was the only thing they had stressed. He was pissed, and I understand now what his point was. And I agree. Just telling that one side is as obscuring and damaging no matter what side. Columbus discovered America yay. Ok. Not enough. But it's the same as Columbus came to America and kidnapped Indians boo. Ok. So what. Still not enough. Tell kids why things are important. They're not stupid. And don't tell them the fucking world was flat then. It wasn't.

Or, how about-- a few weeks ago, teaching my nanny-kids gospel songs in an ostensibly secular school because black people sang it during the Civil Rights movement & Martin Luther King Jr is (was) next week. Doing so devalues the lyrics and their power and makes it seem, again, like something those wacky brown people just, you know, do, because it was "then" and they were "them." Taking things out of context is a dangerous thing to do. It is a form of censorship and infantilization. Not what I'd want to get out of 24K/kid/year. Religious, or in general, holidays-- including Christmas, Hanukkah, jeeze, even Kawanza-- are really interesting to learn about. Shying away from dicussing the background is cheating kids out of a real chance to learn about something they would otherwise not have the opportunity of exposure.

hey, i haven't seen you in awhile!

Scott Campbell's art blog, which features art that I think is okay to refer to as stupid cute. He has a lot of great stuff, including this series of musician illustrations, which the above is detailed from-- everyone from Devo to the Ramones to Mozzers shows up. Also check out the intriguingly titled Adorable Battles, from while my new desktop image (which changes daily) is culled. After the jump, a rawther entertaining Adam Ant vid (as post-Adam & the Ants, as in my songs are all labeled as AA & the As so now I gotta go figure that all out ugh). . . there are like tapdancing WACs or something.

Continue reading!

some aus-rotten for yer aus-sunday. or, some aus-rotten for yer rotten-sunday. that covers all the bases.

Mike Ness Interview

If you haven't figured it out, I absolutely adore Social D.

This is a pretty good Mike Ness interview.

"As a co-founding member of Social Distortion in the late 70’s punk explosion in Los Angeles, Mike Ness has evolved into one of punk music’s most recognized and respected musicians and songwriters. Born in Stoneham, Massachusetts and raised in Orange County, California , the lead singer and guitarist for Social Distortion has always held American folk and blues roots music in high regard. Social Distortion's trademark ( ferocious punk cords and aggressive playing style) are infused with thought provoking introspective lyrics, Influenced as much from Johnny Cash and Hank Williams as Joe Strummer and Sid Vicious. . ." [full text-- corrected link]

And my editorial: I think they should have said Johnny Rotten rather than Sid. If they're trying to use the boy to represent the band, it should definitely be Johnny. Mr Strummer is a different matter. Joe's later music is certainly closer to Social D than Mick's later stuff, though it's ALL good and I recommend both BAD and JS & the Mescaleros. Also, I'm pretty sure Social D is considered part of the Orange County punk explosion, and LA and OC do like to consider themselves different from the other.

In other news. . .
February 13, 2006
MIKE NESS BREAKS HIS WRIST BUT SHOW GOES ON!
In case you've heard anything in the rumor mill about Mike Ness breaking his wrist then we're confirming that this is true. Never the less, the show must go on and Mike has reached out to friend Ron Emory of T.S.O.L. to step in and help out on guitar for this tour. We’re excited to have Ron on board and we look forward to seeing all of you real soon!!!"

This tour's been plagued by problems. Sick, cancelled/rescheduled A LOT of LA shows, and there were A LOT of LA shows in the first place. Hope it's a speedy recovery. At least the singing is still going, but it's a lot of fun to watch Mike play. And Johnny. I saw him by the bathroom. That's my Social D story. He's short.