Wow... this is a lot. If you're a Clash fan, then you already know that this is a typical descriptor for Sandinsta!, the Clash's fourth album. It's a triple album and clocks in at 144 minutes. A lot. I've enjoyed listening to the Clash since high school, and it's taken me till this week to finally get around to it, because that shit is intimidating!
First impressions? It was dogshit. It was mostly the sound of four dudes just fucking around for over two hours. It was lazy and stretched a joke very thin. Etc.
I'm not writing about first impressions today, though. I can't say that I'm giving you my final impressions, mind you. But I have at least ten more hours of Sandinsta! under my belt as I write this, and I am definitely moving my opinion on the stupid-genius scale farther toward the latter.
The thing that is so intimidating is the insane breadth of genre that can be found on this behemoth. There's punk of course, plus rap, gospel, boogie, calypso, funk, children's music, and so very very much dub reggae. It's intimidating because the Clash are a "punk band," and the majority of this music does not sound like rap. The intimidation springs from having to do the hard work to adjust your expectations.
The dub reggae part is interesting though, just because of how prevalent it is on this album (e.g. there are multiple songs that are followed by dub versions of those same songs). I actually got lucky on this one—I finally got around to exploring an album by Lee Perry this year, the amazingly-titled Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread. One of the premiere dub reggae albums, I'm told. It primed me well for wait awaited me on this Clash album. Coincidentally, the Clash actually learned the sound from Lee Perry himself, who opened for the Clash on tour for London Calling.
Speaking of London Calling... I mean, it's not like that critically acclaimed album was the exemplar of punk rock music either. That double album features a goddamn disco song, among many other stylistic outliers. It's not that large of a leap between that album and the follow-up. I think the thing that throws people off is that the Clash did everything they could to make that leap seem as large as possible.
Artistic statement or joke? It's tempting to think of it as the former, but Sandinista! really does appear to be the latter. Joe Strummer said that they set out to do a triple album as a joke on their record company, who gave them shit for wanting to do a double in London Calling, but then released Springsteen's The River that same year with no problems. So they said "fuck you" and made it bigger. They even forwent royalty money so that the album's prices could be reflective of a typical double album, not a triple album.
The discussion always moves toward "what if this was a single album" when it comes to these huge albums, especially ones with a "hodgepodge" or "everything and the kitchen sink" approach. I've dabbled in that conversation in the past (for instance, for The White Album), but Sandinista! is the first album that I've kind of turned on that talking point, and have come to think it's not a worthy one to begin with.
Yes, it is 100% accurate that a single-disc Sandinista! with all its best songs cobbled together would absolutely be a "better" album than what exists now. But it wouldn't be as important. It wouldn't be as memorable. I wouldn't be talking about Sandinista! in this column, that's for sure.
There are a ton of amazing songs that would go on a hypothetical list of single-disc inclusion. "Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)" has the meanest bass line I've ever heard underneath a Strummer who is absolutely frothing at the mouth. "Somebody Got Murdered" is a surprisingly springy song (given the subject matter) that would've fit in well on London Calling. "Police on My Back" goes back even farther, to the muscular straight-up punk of their debut self-titled. "Charlie Don't Surf" is a catchy one that finally brings me back full circle to the Apocalypse Now discussion.
There are a ton of absolutely awful songs too that would definitely get cut. "The Crooked Beat" is the worst of the bunch, with a rhythm that matches the title of the song, and a rare and very off-key vocal performance by bassist Paul Simonon. "Midnight Log" is the Clash dipping into, I dunno, noise collage or something? And, infamously, the session pianists kids sing a cover of the Clash's "Career Opportunities" deep into side six. YIKES.
And then there are a ton of songs that might not be great but are so interesting, especially in this context. "The Sound of Sinners" is an accurate gospel song, believe it or not, and it's fiery and weird in all the right places. "Hittsville U.K.," one of three songs on this album I was already familiar with before this week, used to annoy the hell out of me, but it's been in my head all week, because it fits in really well in the context of a whackadoo triple-album. And "Lose This Skin" is a Clash song in name only, seeing as it's written, produced, and sung by a semi-regular Clash contributor named Tymon Dogg. A lot of people hate this song, but I kind of like it, and I like the idea of "The Only Band That Matters" elevating this unfamous musician and giving him room to do his thing.
So my point is that this all matters. The good, the bad, the weird, they are all integral parts of this album. You shouldn't cut it, even if there are times when you're on side six and you're on the third goddamn dub cover of a song you just fucking heard last hour and you're just screaming for a pared down redo, don't give in.
Because this album has enough heft to be IMPORTANT. It took me more than one listen, obviously, but at this point, I'm enthralled with the idea of Sandinista!, and I feel like I'm going to keep listening to it for the rest of my life. It's one of those album that under no metric could ever be considered the "best" of the artist's discography, but I could certainly see an argument for "favorite." I might even make that argument one day. Give me like 80 more hours and I'll get back to you.
P.S. Choosing even four songs to attempt to sum up the general sound of this album was a fool's errand, so do me a favor and block off two hours and just listen to the whole thing, don't bother with these embedded videos.
P.P.S. It should go without saying at this point, but I had to move this column to Monday again due to another emergency Saturday post.
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