The Clash—Give 'em Enough Rope

The Clash—Give 'em Enough Rope

Give 'em Enough Rope—Punk rock as a denominator generally holds the implication that the artist will follow their own path, but in the first wave of punk, there were some persistent conventions. Many punk debuts were loud: Ramones, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, and Young Loud and Snotty to name a few, and The Clash (1977) was certainly no exception. Oftentimes—and the same is true of any artist—these bands were at a loss how to follow them up, especially since the approach on the debuts were characteristically fairly simple. The Ramones churned out a near-replica, the Sex Pistols burned out before they could record a follow-up, and Dead Boys produced what was seen as a lukewarm sequel courtesy of production problems. The Clash ended up with results somewhere in the middle.

While blistering punk was a viable commodity in the United Kingdom, even the most popular U.S. punk bands couldn't crack the charts in their own homeland. CBS' desire to reach a wider audience somehow resulted in the hiring of Blue Öyster Cult and Dictators producer Sandy Pearlman. This move has been criticized, perhaps not as harshly as other artist/producer mismatches through the annals of time, but the end result, Give 'em Enough Rope, was not actually that different principally from The Clash. No more convincing experience can be had than firing up "Safe European Home" at the wrong volume and getting an earful of feedback. An ill-fated trip to Jamaica inspired group leaders Joe Strummer and Mick Jones to write the song, the two of who, along with their bandmates, worked with Lee "Scratch" Perry on some of their singles, covered "Police & Thieves" on their debut, and would later record plenty more reggae- and dub-influenced songs. It is also notable for Strummer's refrain of "Rudie can't fail," a line which would be fashioned into an entire song on their third album, London Calling (1979).

"English Civil War," derived from the traditional "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," is an interesting inclusion. It is interpreted here as Jones/Strummer's response to British racism, offering the sly dig, "Your face was blue in the light of the screen." "Tommy Gun" speaks out against war by, if nothing else, drowning out the gunfire with drums and guitars. The sweeter "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad" (originally billed as "Julie's in the Drug Squad") is probably one of the reasons the album was met with some criticism, but it is in fact one of its highlights; the song refers to the 1977 raids of places of LSD manufacture ("Operation Julie") and possibly hints at a certain futility of its objective ("And then there came the night of the greatest ever raid/They arrested every drug that had ever been made"). "Last Gang in Town" is the longest song on the album and probably also the weakest, its music uninspiring and its words somewhat aimless.

"Guns on the Roof" resembles "Clash City Rockers" and "Capital Radio," which themselves resembled the Who's "I Can't Explain" (though it should be noted that the Who's riff was nothing particularly intricate). The song's title refers to an incident in which bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Topper Headon were arrested by counter-terrorism forces for shooting at pigeons. The demented "Drug-Stabbing Time" is an underrated jaunt that could also reference the incident ("Paying off the big fine;" Simonon and Headon were each fined £30). "Stay Free," a great, heartfelt song about friendship, was written by Jones for his childhood friend and Clash roadie Robin Crocker, who had just finished spending time in prison for robbing banks. "Cheapskates" attacks those who scorned the Clash for trying to live their lives like normal people following their successes, while "All the Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)" (titled "That's No Way to Spend Your Youth" on the original U.S. issue) explores the same ground, but directed at those who tried to follow in their footsteps.

Give 'em Enough Rope doesn't have the same impact as The Clash (either the U.K. original or the U.S. release) or the sprawling genius of London Calling, but aside from a couple flat songs and borrowed tunes, it just as stimulating as (and sometimes smarter than) those records. It's not desert island Clash, but it is essential.