Rude Girl

Despite some female backup vocals here and there and the pro-cunnilingus "Lover's Rock," women didn't exactly feature heavily in the Clash's music. The señorita in "Spanish Bombs" is nothing other than the revolutionary spirit herself, sullied and scarred in the age of terrorism. Yet some of the best Clash covers are by women, from Indigo Girls' "Clampdown" (on 1999's otherwise disposable Burning London: The Clash Tribute on Epic) to Amy Rigby, Sally Timms, and the Coal Porters on this year's richly rewarding curio The Sandinista! Project: A Tribute to the Clash (00:02:59). At Pi in November, local newbies Rude Girl rocked like a ramshackle distillation of all of the above, a kind of Clash Unplugged nine-girl/ten-piece with fiddle and horns sawing through every funk-reggae-New Orleans-punk classic on 1979's London Calling. Tonight they mark the fifth anniversary of the death of the Clash's lead singer and principal lyricist, whose memory has been nourished and deepened by a recent and very moving documentary, Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten. Buy the soundtrack, empty a bottle, stay free. 21+.
Sat., Dec. 22, 10 p.m., 2007