Some Grow Up And Some Grow Old

One of my favourite albums is Rancid's 1995 lp ...And Out Come The Wolves. It's not original or groundbreaking or envelope pushing. It's just a record full of two-to-three minute punk songs, with a side order of ska, brilliantly recorded guitars, gut busting vocals and guttersnipe Californian street poetry. It is, as Billy Childish might put it, placing authenticity over originality. And if you're going to listen to an American 90s punk band I'd take Rancid over the masses of also-rans and pop-punkers that came after them. Rancid meant it, man, and sounded great too.

Daly City Train

Yesterday I Got A Letter

The evergreat Jimmy Cliff and his 1970 song Vietnam, with a soldier getting ready to come home, his sweetheart with 'golden lips as sweet as cherries' and then his mother receiving the telegram giving the news of his death. Sorry if that spoilt the ending for you. I'm pretty sure New Order had been listening to this when they recorded Love Vigilantes (and they covered it at some point in the late 90s).

Vietnam

Jimmy's new e.p, Sacred Fire, recorded with Tim Armstrong and including two versions of his cover of Guns Of Brixton (posted here in September) and a cover of Rancid's Ruby Soho among its five songs is out now and you should get it. Emusic have it here for download if you're a member though you (and I) should really go looking for a copy we can actually hold in our sweaty mitts.

You See He Feels Like Ivan

Cover version of Guns Of Brixton returns, in fine reggae style. This is very good- Jimmy Cliff with Tim Armstrong from Rancid producing, a taster for a forthcoming album. Jimmy's voice sounds great still, the acoustic guitars swing and there's some lovely trombone.

Guns Of Brixton

Rancid 'Time Bomb'

Cartoon punks, Clash sound-a-likes, silly third generation mohawks, fans of The Exploited, South Californian rebel rockers etc. Rancid may be all these things, but there's no denying this is a good song.

'Black coat
White shoes
Black hat
Cadillac
The boy's a timebomb'

Silly but fun, and what's wrong with that?

Time_Bomb.mp3