The Clash - London Calling : Rated

THE CLASH - LONDON CALLING (1979): 9.6/10

This was absolutely fantastic. It so incredibly encapsulates the young adult living in London experience, complete with struggle, angst and romanticism. The birth of new wave is so clear in this album and I cannot believe they only took a year to write this. Phenomenal work. 

I was torn between The Guns Of Brixton and Lost In The Supermarket: I love how closely to the South London and specifically Brixton reggae and ska culture Paul Simonon worked, but what tipped me over to the latter is this incredibly new-sounding style that we are extremely familiar to in the present day. It took me completely by surprise that an album from the late 70s would resonate so closely to the music of the 2020s. The Clash must be having a heart attack hearing indie rock from the late 10s and early 20s. 

Along with this really familiar sound also came a powerful familiarity from the lyrics. I really like how this song speaks to consumers, and how no void left by your 20s can be filled by tangible things we can buy. 

I expected this album to be very centred towards the central areas of London: places such as The City, Westminster, Kensington and the West End. Sort of like a tourist attraction album walking us through the spectacular city that London is. But I was very pleasantly surprised to hear some critique of everyone’s favourite metropolis. 

Despite being a long album, at over an hour, it doesn’t lose me for the whole duration, and that is very impressive.