Happy Belated Canada Day! I’ve had
a lovely weekend so far, meeting up with an old friend, hanging with my lovely
wife, playing some Ultimate and (of course) adding to my music collection. Here
are some albums you can expect to hear about in the months and years ahead:
- Three Secret
Sisters albums: their self-titled debut, “Put Your Needle Down” and “You
Don’t Own Me Anymore”
- Joan Shelley’s
“Electric Ursa” and “Over and Even”
- K. Flay, “Everywhere
is Somewhere”
- Dawes, “Nothing
is Wrong”
- Great Big Sea,
“The Hard and the Easy”
- Warren Zevon, “Wanted
Dead or Alive”
- Portugal. The
Man, “Woodstock”
OK, from albums I’m just
discovering to one that has been in my collection for a very long time.
Disc 1023 is…Rum, Sodomy & the Lash
Artist: The
Pogues
Year of Release: 1985
What’s up with the Cover? A take on 19th
century artist Theodore Gericault’s famous painting, “The Raft of the Medusa,” except
with members of the Pogues edited in. I’ve seen the original painting in the
Louvre and it was a moving experience, immersing you in the anguish and dread
of the shipwrecked crew. The Pogues would later write a song about the event on
their 1990 album “Hell’s Ditch”.
Whether
having the Pogues on the raft would have prevented any of the starvation and
cannibalism that occurred is unlikely, but at least the music would have been
better while you waited around to die.
How I Came To Know It: I knew a couple of Pogues songs
from the radio, and I owned “If I Should Fall From Grace with God,” but this
particular album was introduced to me by my friend Tony one weekend long ago
when I was visiting him in Vancouver.
How It Stacks Up: I have five Pogues’ albums (basically
everything they did with Shane MacGowan in the band) and I like them all, but
“Rum, Sodomy & the Lash” is the best of them all. Since this is the last
Pogues album in my collection, here is a full recap:
- Rum,
Sodomy & the Lash: 5 stars
(reviewed right here)
- If
I Should Fall From Grace with God: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 451)
- Red
Roses for Me: 4 stars
(reviewed at Disc 835)
- Hell’s
Ditch: 4 stars (reviewed at
Disc 798)
- Peace
and Love: 3 stars (reviewed at
Disc 121)
Ratings: 5 stars
“Rum,
Sodomy & the Lash” is a traditional Irish folk album, infused with the
rebellious energy of rock and roll. It is a bleak examination of regret and
loss which nevertheless inspires your soul by virtue of its unflinchingly
honesty.
Roughly
half the songs are traditional folk songs, arranged by the Pogues, and the
other half are Shane MacGowan originals. These originals stand shoulder to
shoulder with some of folk music’s great standards and give away no advantage.
Shane
MacGowan is a troubled genius, and he was never more troubled or brilliant than
he was on this record. The opening two tracks, “The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn” and “The Old Main Drag” explore the underbelly of alcoholism and
violence. “Sick Bed of Cuchulainn” gives
the knife an extra twist, naming itself after Celtic legend’s greatest hero,
and then featuring such non-heroic actions as pissing yourself, catching syphilis
and vomiting in a church. All of it is done to a rollicking tune that captures
the manic celebration of someone determined to hit rock bottom as quickly as
possible.
On “the Old Main Drag” the main character gives blow jobs in alleys for a five
dollar bill, all so he can have one more pint at the local pub. These are Irish
drinking stories where the song doesn’t end with everyone having a rollicking
good time, but instead bleed into the next day, where we find our heroes lying beaten
and hung over in the street, waiting to die.
Why the
hell would anyone want to listen to stories like these? Because when they are
done this beautifully you can’t look away. These are the stories of the street
without the filter of propriety. This is what goes on in those alleys you wisely
don’t go down after dark. “Rum, Sodomy & the Lash” walks you down there,
and tapes your eyes open, “Clockwork Orange” style, to make sure you don’t miss
anything.
The playing
on the album is exceptional, with every member of the band (and there are a
lot) at the top of their game. The songs roll smooth and easy, including two
instrumentals (“Wild Cats of Kilkenny”
and “A Pistol for Paddy Garcia”) that
let you focus exclusively on just how good they are. Both songs are original
compositions that mix Irish reels and sea shanties with the mystery of old west
trail songs, and play the mixture with the same furious intensity you’d find on
a metal album.
MacGowan’s
vocals are thick and powerful, and he spits out these tales of woe with the
veritas of a man who lives hard and unhealthy. “A Pair of Brown Eyes” opens with:
“One summer evening, drunk to
hell
I sat there nearly lifeless”
And
MacGowan sings it in a matter-of-fact resignation that tells you it’s nothing new
to him. On later records, MacGowan’s slur gets a bit out of hand and he’s hard
to understand, but on “Rum, Sodomy & the Lash” his deliver is the perfect
mix of drunken bravado and artistic precision. It seems like he’s always about
to fall off the beat, but he never does, holding just to the back of it; the
perfect counterpoint to the energetic playing of his band mates.
Bassist Cait
O’Riordan was still with the band at this point (she left after this record), and
provides a brief counterpoint to MacGowan’s bawl with a delightful rendition of
“I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day.”
I know MacGowan is the star of the show, but I’ve always missed the presence of
O’Riordan on later Pogues’ records.
On other
records I have John McDermott singing “the
Band Played Waltzing Matilda” and the Irish Descendants singing “Dirty Old Town” and thought they were
good, but once I heard the Pogues’ do them on “Rum, Sodomy & the Lash” other
versions sound thin and false.
This
album has been a big part of my life, and despite having played it hundreds of
times, I never tire of it. In fact, every time I’m about to go on holiday (and
sometimes when I’m just heading into a weekend) I sing a few lines from “Sally MacLennane”:
“I’m sad to say, I must be on my
way
So buy me beer and whiskey ‘cause
I’m going far away.
I’d like to think I’ll be
returning when I can
To the greatest little boozer and
to Sally MacLennane”
And
while that’s just me excited to have some time off, it is as good a metaphor
for how I feel about the record as well. No matter how far away I go, “Rum,
Sodomy & the Lash” is my Sally MacLennane – a great and tragic love I’ll
always come back to.
Best tracks: All tracks
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