Published on Aug 26, 1997
It’s practically inevitable to compare the Sex Pistols and the
Clash. They were the most visable leaders of the punk movement in
the late 70s. While each scared the shit out of people who were
burning in the disco inferno, both groups took decidedly different
means to bum rush the bloated music system. While the Pistols did
most of their damage by means of shock, the Clash gave weight to
the punk movement, lyrically and musically.
The Clash was a great introduction of what was to come of
the band. The album kicks off with the hard edged “Clash City
Rockers” and the Clash’s version of “Anarchy In The U.K” with “I’m
So Bored With The U.S.A”. While some punk bands vehemently rebeled
against the system, the Clash stood for something more important,
people who honestly tried to fit in to the system and got screwed.
What system, society, government, employment or anything that
pissed them off at that time.
Musically, the Clash proved to be miles above their peers for a
number of reasons, which is evident on
The Clash. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones turned out to be the
Jagger/Richards of the punk movement. Strummer’s bile spitting
delievery matched with Jones’s more melody oriented style fits
perfectly with “London’s Burning”. Along with great musicians, the
group also weaved in sounds of reggae as in “White Man In
Hammersmith Palais”. Studio legend Lee Perry lent his productive
hand with “Complete Control”. At the time when
The Clash was released, punk’s basic ethic was to say “piss
off” to the past. The Clash was able to embrace the sounds of the
past and mesh it effortlessly the sounds of the punk movement of
the 70s.
The working class roots of the Clash are clearly shown on
The Clash. The album almost loses something when you listen
to it at home. I didn’t really grow to appreciate this album until
I stepped into this fairly large pub on a Sunday night. The crowd
of students and working class stiffs who have no family to go home
to was a fairly mellow lot. “White Man In Hammersmith Palais”, “I
Fought The Law” and “Career Opportunities” were played on the juke
box. Each of those songs, and much of the album has that certain
Irish pub sing along feel to it.
The Clash is a great introduction to a great band. A lot of
the white noise of this album got fine tuned in the next couple of
albums released, leading up to their finest work,
London Calling. As the band matured, they became more
serious musicians and the topics they wanted to address weren’t
nearly as broad as say “I’m So Bored With The U.S.A”. For
aggression sake though, few first albums achieve what
The Clash achieved. Getting pissed off has rarely sounded
this fun.