Streetcore by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros

Streetcore, the third and last studio album by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, came out on Hellcat on 21 October 2003, and it's a farewell nobody planned. Strummer died before it was done, and his bandmates Martin Slattery and Scott Shields did most of the work of finishing it, with Rick Rubin in the producer's chair.

After two records that hopped between genres like a pirate radio dial, this one plays it straight: plain, sturdy rock and roll that sounds a lot like Strummer's old days in the Clash, rasp and all. "Coma Girl" rattles along with the old punk bounce. Critics welcomed it warmly and called it a return to form, a high note for Strummer to have gone out on, and it's hard to argue.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.