Today’s recipe on eating/sf – shrimp smeared with anchovy butter – is anything except subtle. It is bold and features some in-your-face flavor (in a good way). And I even found it to be slightly subversive in that the anchovy butter mingles with the natural flavor of the shrimp in such a way as to defy your natural expectations by creating a surprisingly complex overall taste. So I wanted an album that is somewhat subversive; an album that is bold; an album that is anything but subtle for today’s Musical Pairing. I chose The Clash’s London Calling – and album that fits that description like a glove.
Originally released in 1979, London Calling is one of rock n’ roll’s most influential albums of all time having paved the way for and inspired the sound of countless subsequent bands including Rancid, NOFX, Sublime, the White Stripes, No Doubt, LCD Soundsystem, and even U2 (both Bono and the Edge have cited the Clash as inspiration for their music). The Clash are often described as a punk band, and indeed they are arguably one of the three most punk bands of all time alongside the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, exactly because they could have cared less for rules or genre boundaries including those of the punk rock music scene. They created something new adopting influences that surrounded them including dub, reggae, ska and rockabilly (sure the album would have paired well with a Jamaican-inspired recipe as well). For an album over 30 years old, it is hard not to be impressed by how fresh and full of life this album is, and especially tracks like the dub-inspired revolutionary cut “Guns of Brixton”, the fist-pumping rebellion of the apocalyptic opener “London Calling,” or the throbbing and spindly “Clampdown.” Even after decades of shitty imitators (who I won’t call out by name) London Calling hasn’t lost any of it’s sheen. Go grab it at Amazon or Insound (its about $6 cheaper at Insound).
Return to eating/sf to read the recipe for shrimp smeared with anchovy butter.
