The 30 Best Clash Covers Ever

Head back to the beginning.

30. Indigo Girls — Clampdown

You might think the idea of an acoustic Clash song to be anathema, removing any point or purpose from their often angry repertoire. Of course, you’d be wrong, as demonstrated here by Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, aka the Indigo Girls. This longstanding duo has never been backward in coming forward for any counterculture or cause going, so it’s no surprise to find them popping up, alongside much noisier fare, on 1999’s Clash tribute album Burning London. The gritty pairing of their voices gifts the lyric with just as much spleen as Strummer and co., despite the gentler sway of acoustics behind them. — Seuras Og

29. Union Avenue — Should I Stay or Should I Go

The Clash and Johnny Cash had a lot in common. Both of them burned with the passion of their beliefs, and both of them were cool beyond cool. When Joe Strummer teamed up with Cash to cover Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” one site described them as “the first true punk rock star and the last.” Union Avenue harnessed their combined energies in their cover of “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” walking the line and rocking the Casbah, asking the eternal question with that Sun Studios sound. You’ll end up hoping Union Avenue stays, because it’s not just the trouble that doubles, it’s the fun. — Patrick Robbins

28. Skarabazoo — Jimmy Jazz

Love of ska was a shibboleth for some young people who were music fans in the UK in the ’70s and ’80s. The black-and-white sleeves of the best-known record label were the giveaway that this music was made by immigrants, or the children of immigrants, or the friends of these people. The Clash would have shared stages at conventional gigs and political fundraisers over the years, so it is fantastic that a modern ska band pays tribute to the band with this cover. One of the earliest recordings that showed The Clash was going to evolve beyond punk, it is clearly influenced by jazz-infused drummer Topper Headon, but this version has the energy and danceability of the best ska songs, while hovering closer to the beat of reggae. — Mike Tobyn

27. Shovels & Rope ft. Hayes Carll — Death Or Glory

If you imagine a drunken group of ne’er-do-wells singing around a campfire high in the Catskill Mountains, that’s pretty much the sound of Shovels & Rope in this gloriously chaotic rendition. Shovels & Rope are the married duo of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst. Aside from their more orthodox releases, they have issued three editions of Busted Jukebox—ramshackle home recordings, heavy with covers, and featuring their friends and acquaintances from their musical journeys. Americana auteur Hayes Carll is the featured guest on this hoot’n’holler of a track, that is just so darn liberating as to be inspirational. — Seuras Og

26. The Bad Shepherds — White Riot

Ade Edmondson’s tribute to both traditional folk music and punk rock, the Bad Shepherds excelled at accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative in the songs they covered. Take “White Riot” as a for-instance. Not only do the Shepherds turn the fury of a mob into the lilt of a céilí band, they keep their energy level just as high as the Clash’s, no small feat when covering a song that goes over two hundred beats per minute. Where the Clash make hay, the Bad Shepherds celebrate that the sun shines. — Patrick Robbins

25. Old 97’s — Career Opportunities

Recorded as a bonus track/b-side to the Old 97’s tenth full-length album, Most Messed Up, the band’s take on The Clash’s “Career Opportunities” looks at the song’s message from the other end of the career spectrum.

Joe Strummer and the rest of the Clash recorded the original version of the song very early on in their career, knowing that, for them, music was their only option. When Rhett Miller and the rest of the Old 97’s recorded their take, they knew the subject well. They knew that, despite the many long nights on the road and shows played for uninterested audiences, it was still worth it. After all, as the opening track on Messed Up said, they’d been doing it “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive.”

Even after all that time, there was still nothing they’d rather be doing. Twenty-plus years into their career, they still didn’t understand why anyone would choose a career as a bus driver, ambulance man or ticket inspector. And they likely never would. — Luke Polling

24. Bill Janovitz — Straight to Hell

Bill Janovitz’s stripped-down “Straight to Hell” is direct and raw in a way that brings Springsteen’s Nebraska to mind. I doubt Janovitz thought, “hey, what if Springsteen covered The Clash?” (he has). But the Boss vibe in Janovitz’s voice–no affectation–is very present, and the song itself bears the commonalities between Strummer and Springsteen. Both insisted that music had a social purpose: to critique political realities about class, race, and immigration in their respective nations. Both artists also tended to mix their messages with bombast and musical complexity. Janovitz exposes the undiluted message in his take, letting the moral indictment at the core of the song ring perfectly clear. — Tom McDonald

23. Dwight Yoakam — Train in Vain

The late Joe Ely wasn’t the only performer from the country side of the tracks to appreciate the twang simmering in the songs of the Clash. Dwight Yoakam, never shy to pick up on someone else’s song, run with it and make it his own, renders it unrecognizable by the bed of banjo and accordion. With his voice the lazy drawl of mañana, Yoakam sneaks all the agitation out of the original, delivering it instead in a steady lope. From an edgy, at-the-barricade vibe, it becomes more a dusty suggestion from a roadside cantina, and is all the better for that repositioning. — Seuras Og

22. Pollo Del Mar — Charlie Don’t Surf

If a band has a song with “surf” in the title, they’re just begging for a surf-rock tribute album. The Clash got one with the excellent—and excellently-titled—Charlie DOES Surf (emphasis mine). The almost-title track comes from Bay Area surf revivalists Pollo Del Mar, who, their bio notes, have headlined “the Surfer Joe Music Festival in Italy.” Who knew Italy was such a hotbed of surf-rock? — Ray Padgett

21. Afghan Whigs — Lost in the Supermarket

Burning London got a lot of bad notices, many of which noted that the artists on it didn’t—couldn’t—sing the songs with the same intensity as the originals. But Greg Dulli and his Afghan Whigs bandmates didn’t set out to match the Clash in vehemence. Instead, they changed the message of “Lost in the Supermarket” from alienation to a post-breakup lament, complete with female keening. They also sample Topper Headon’s “Train in Vain” drumbeat, and they add lyrics from both that song and the original “Stand By Me” at the end. It ends up with a measure of understanding about the Clash themselves, while still keeping that Replacements-with-a-heart sound the Whigs took on and thrived in. — Patrick Robbins

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