Eye Magazine reviews the new Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros CD

Joe Strummer had no time for a contemplative, Zevon-esque grand finale when his last breath came swiftly last December. But it's probably more fitting that Streetcore, the album he was recording at the time of his death, is the same kind of album he'd have put out if he'd lived. That means you take the great moments (urgent opening rocker "Coma Girl," the gritty "Long Shadow") with the so-so (the oddly Big Audio Dynamite-ish "All in a Day"). Mescaleros Martin Slattery and Scott Shields keep the global reggae-punk flame alive while preserving Strummer's sincere, earthy voice and performing a minimum of posthumous tinkering. Strummer's most poignant parting comment is saved for last with Fats Domino's "Silver and Gold" -- about as lovely a rumination on mortality as he could have covered before checking out too soon.

KIERAN GRANT