Joe Solo – Never Let Them Win

‘Never Let Them Win’ is the latest album by Joe Solo, the title in itself says everything you need to know about Joe and what he stands for.  If you want to know what Punk really is, then this is the place to start and finish, never put yourself before anyone else, always fight for the right to be human and definitely keep the fascists on the back foot, Joe is a real life man of the people, and this album above all, feels like it has been written and performed with pure love, with the likes of Carol Hodge on Piano, Rebekah Findlay on Fiddle/Viola and the My People Choir (Jess Silk, Daniel Lucas, Matt Hill, Mark Whyatt, Kirsty Rowan, Johnny Campbell, Naomi Bedford and Paul Simmonds) adding their everlasting stamp to this masterpiece of community spirit.

If you come to this album expecting to hear the thrash of White Riot guitars or the thump of New Rose drums and even the scream of Anarchy In The UK vocals, then your gonna be a little disappointed, but not for long I hope, for this is the album that shows you just how punk has evolved, the folk, the blues, the Rock n Roll kind of evolved.

‘We Were Young’ takes us of an age, all the way back to when it all began and why it began, “The Dansette generation, the scourge of your small towns” says so much about the way we had to listen and share music with friends (although my choice of player was the humble Fidelity), the birth of Punk Rock n Roll and the reasons for it all, held within this snapshot of a song. The musical overcoat that holds all the songs together like a super glue, is not folk, its melodic punk played in a folk manner.  

As you move from track to track, this 10 song album has it all,  ‘Trouble’ gives out the John Lydon kind of vibe, “the kind of trouble that’s gonna make a better world one day” speak out, create hell, as long as its with the right intentions.  Title track ‘Never Let Them Win’ takes the bull by the horns, it has all the rebellion all the resistance and all the fight of any punk song, yet it’s held within a beautiful fluffy cloud that stands in front of a storm.  ‘These Are My People’ uses its anthemic qualities to simply say, humanity needs to be human regardless of anything else, one world, a beautiful never to be forgotten songs, that spits in the eye of fascism! 

Having listened to this album on repeat for a week, what never ever goes away is the sense of truth, of the life affirming feelings that come oozing out of every pore of Joe’s being. Joe Strummer seems to have been a catalyst for a lot of what sits at the core of the songs, but there can never be one person that moulds who you are, Joe is drawn to every flame burns in this world, he cares about them all and it shows in his music.  ‘Magic’ is the most stunningly written song on this album and needs no explanation from me, just listen and if you hear it, then you know where I am in this world, a haunting Fiddle winds it way through your mind as you contemplate the realities of true friendship.

If you do anything else in this world, go buy and listen intently to this album, take it for exactly what it is, songs for humanity, songs of truth and songs of revolution, oh and not to forget the politics.

Punk Rock pure and unadulterated.

Go get this album and never look back BANDCAMP is a good place to start.

Check all of Joe’s super power over on his FACEBOOK or see his spectacular WEB PAGE