By Henry Lipput
I had planned to write and post this look at a long lost EP from the late 1980s and a Strummer cover you really should hear at the end of last year. But unexpected hours and responsibilities at my part-time job and two bouts of the flu (one at Christmas and the other right after the New Year which involved three days of fever) pushed it further than I had hoped. Better late than never, right?
Nadine, Jim's Twenty-one (Harriet Records)
Three young men from Ireland, Scotland, and England met in Brussels in 1985 and formed a band. Bringing the DNA of the C86 bands at the time with them, Sean Costello, Andrew Delaney, and Kenny Maxwell recorded and self-released Throwaway Friend, a four-song EP.
The new collection Nadine is a snapshot of a time and a sound that has reverberated across the years with bands like Close Lobsters and The Jack Rubies back again and making new music. Nadine is important because it contains not only the EP but another eight songs recorded at the same time (but only recently discovered) and five live songs from a Brussel gig in 1987.
"God's Gonna Cut You Down"/"Get Down Moses," BEAUTY IN CHAOS (Bandcamp)
"God's Gonna Cut You Down," a traditional Gospel hymn, is a cover of Johnny Cash track and the BEAUTY IN CHAOS version contains all of the fire and brimstone a vengeful god could unleash.
"Get Down Moses," a cover of a Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros track from the band's Streetcore album. The BEAUTY IN CHAOS version ot the song is joyful and shambolic, not far from the original, and a very different feel than "God's Gonna Cut You Down" and so a perfect counterweight.
The joyful vibe of BEAUTY IN CHAOS's "Get Down Moses" is evident on their recording but it's even more so on the video.
