Galen & Paul (that’s Simonon) – Lonely Town
I’m always curious to find out how former Clash members are spending their time. In the aughts, Mick Jones collaborated with Tony James on the delightfully quirky Carbon/Silicon (moreC/S please!). Paul Simonon released a couple of albums with the Damon Albarn led The Good The Bad & The Queen . And they both contributed to the Gorillaz ‘Plastic Seat Beach’ record. But overall, the twenty-teens and twenties have been relatively quiet.
Photo by @tommyophoto So, a neat surprise a few weeks back when I was scrolling through Instagram and came across this sweet little tune, “Lonely Town.” The short version of the story is that Paul Simonon (bassman for the Clash, and the bass-smashing cover boy of London Calling) was staying on and off in Mallorca during lockdown – resting, painting, writing some tunes – when a mutual friend pointed Paul toward Gale Ayers back in the UK (daughter of Soft Machine’s Kevin Ayers). They knew each other from years past, and hit it off creatively.
Galen moved in with Paul for writing and recording (separate rooms!), and before you know it, they have a major label debut as Galen & Paul with Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day?
The album releases on May 19th, but a couple of singles are already out: “Room at the Top” and the aforementioned “Lonely Town.” It’s a catchy, laid back, simple little number that I’m enjoying. Check it out!
New from the Clash, Sort of
Well not really, but two members of the Clash have some interesting projects going. I’ve spoken before of Mick Jones’ collaboration with Tony James, named Carbon/Silicon. They keep pumping out fresh and free material via their web site.
Here’s one that’s pretty damn catchy, and appeals to my I.T. geek-ness.
Carbon/Silicon: The Network’s Going Down – this and many many more full mp3’s available from this page on their web site. I’ve heard rumblings of a U.S. tour, which would be very very cool.
Also active again in the music arena is Clash bassist Paul Simonon. I read about his latest project in the latest Rolling Stone. Made up of former Blur & Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn, former Verve guitarist Simon Tong, Simonon, and former Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen. And produced by Brian Burton, AKA Danger Mouse (the hipster favorite who, with Cee-Lo, makes up Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy” never did anything for me, by the way). Cool lineup, huh?
I’ll have to post some Fela Kuti soon. For those who haven’t heard of him, he was a Nigerian musician / political activist who popularized Afrobeat in the 60’s and 70’s. Find out more about him here. I’ll put a post together soon, though. Shame on me for not posting Fela sooner.
Back to the eclectic project. The album, titled The Good The Bad and The Queen, will be released in January. The first single, “Herculean”, is already available in the UK. As for the band name, Rolling Stone says they’re still nameless, but it appears by their web site and MySpace page that they’re calling themselves The Good The Bad and The Queen too.
As for the single, it’s nothing mind-blowing to me personally, but given the lineup, I’m willing to give it a healthy dose of listens and let it seep in. My musical resume doesn’t include a lot of Blur or Danger Mouse,and just a little bit of Gorillaz. Recommendations?
The Good The Bad and The Queen:
Herculean(mp3) – check out their official web site.