TIE FOR #11 - JIMMY CLIFF "SACRED FIRE EP"

Having Tim Armstrong of Rancid produce Jimmy Cliff was a stroke of genius.  Mr. Cliff's full length LP comes out next year, but the Sacred Fire EP is a preview of what it will be like (except that most of the album will be new songs, and there are three covers on this EP).

Tim is a huge fan of The Clash (and signed Joe Strummer to his Hellcat Records label in the '90s) so it's no surprise that the EP includes a cover of "Guns of Brixton," originally sung by The Clash's bassist/reggae fanatic Paul Simonon (the song also references The Harder They Come, the classic film that Cliff starred in).  It's a perfect song for Jimmy to cover.

Another cover is Rancid's "Ruby Soho," one of the band's ska-influenced tunes.  It's a song about being on the road, so it's something that the 70-something legend can relate to. Also covered: Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," which I bet Dylan has heard and probably loves.

There's one original, "Ship Is Sailing," and that's the one that makes me most optimistic about the LP coming out next year.

I can tell you from first hand experience that Jimmy is still vital and passionate.  I filmed this performance that he did at the SiriusXM Studios a few weeks ago.  I never even knew that he played guitar.  He came and performed a solo acoustic set for us while being interviewed by The Joint's boss, Pat McKay. It was one of the highlights of my career and life to be in the room during this performance.

UNDERRATED: TIM ARMSTRONG'S "A POET'S LIFE"

Longtime No Expiration readers know that I am a huge fan of Rancid, but I haven't really written about Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong's great 2007 solo album A Poet's Life. I thought about it the other day when Stephen King wrote about the single "Into Action" in his "Pop Of King" column in Entertainment Weekly (unfortunately, they haven't been posting his columns online since March, hence no link to ew.com!). He basically was discussing the "rush" you get from great music, and actually compared hearing this song to when he first heard Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls Of Fire."

Now, obviously, Tim's song doesn't have the cultural impact that The Killer's did. But Stephen King isn't having the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fact check his stuff. He's talking about music on a visceral level, and I'm glad he pointed out this song (I enjoy his EW column and I think he has great taste in music).  Coincidentally, SIRIUS XM's E Street Radio recently rebroadcast Bruce Springsteen's guest DJ program, and Bruce played this song also, saying that he thought it should have been a huge hit. So anyway, check out A Poet's Life, and here's the video for "Into Action" (the female singer on this is Skye Sweetman).

BEST OF '09: RANCID

Last summer, I saw Rancid at Irving Plaza in NYC and was blown away, as I have been every single time I've seen them... starting with a gig when they totally blew away The Offspring at Roseland in the summer of '94 (when Offspring were just becomming the biggest band in the land). But I was curious how much I'd like their next album; I don't love their last two albums, 2000's Rancid and 2003's Indestructable. I like, but don't love, Lars Frederiksen's solo records, and Tim Armstrong's other band The Transplants. (However, I love Tim's 2007 solo album A Poet's Life).

Let The Dominoes Fall, which sees them returning to Epitaph, and Bad Religion guitarist/Epitaph boss Brett Gurewitz returning as their producer, is a classic. It's just fun, but deep and moving. I know that lots of indie bands like Pavement will invoke punk rock, but to me this is punk rock with heart, soul and blood. Every word means something, every note is supposed to be there. Tons of great songs that I can't wait to hear live. The expanded version features a bonus disc with acoustic (or demo) versions of the songs. Few of the songs exceed three minutes, but one of the more suprising ones, "Civilian Ways," breaks four. It's an acoustic ballad about a soldier who comes back from the Middle East, and nothing is the same. It brings a lump to my throat. Totally non-partisan and really moving. I wish more people would hear this song - and this album. But the blogs and the media are looking elsewhere. Luckily for you, you're reading this. Now go and check this album out.

Other Best of '09 albums: Bob Dylan's Together Through Life , The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre ,

OPERATION IVY - BACK IN PRINT

Lots of people rip on the punk/ska genre. Whatever. Sure, it was a trend for a second, millions of bands copied it, then became swing bands, then became rap-metal bands, then they were emo and now they're indie.

Anyway, a great record that music fans should dig is the upcoming reissue by Operation Ivy. The band featured Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, who later formed Rancid (another great band in my humble opinion). The record had been on Lookout! Records, a credible indie label... that apparently doesn't always pay it's artists royalties. Green Day 's first two albums were released on that label, but Green Day took them from the catalog when the rights reverted to them... also because of unpaid royalties. You might say, "Well, Green Day, those guys are millionaires - why would they care about royalties from an indie label?" Which is fair. But so is getting paid for the work you've done. In Op Ivy's case, the two non-Rancid guys, Jesse Michaels and Dave Mello, would probably appreciate the money. So, the album is coming out on Tim Armstrong's Hellcat Records, distributed by Epitaph.

It's interesting that indie labels, seen as very credible, have ripped off artists as much as major labels have, and sometimes more. For all the complaining Trent Reznor does about Interscope, I know he hates TVT more, because he felt that they really ripped him off.

Back to music: last year, Jesse Michaels joined Rancid on stage for a few Op Ivy songs - man, it would be cool if they reunited.