Well we're heading headfirst, rolling and tumbling, collapsing further into the 21st century...its 2012 already, nearly tomorrow its gonna be 2013. Say those years over and over a little and realise the future despite of all our best efforts is actually here. But you know the future doesn't happen all at once, it creeps up on us in degrees, it secretly removes things replacing them with others and as the years tick past from time to you wonder how the fuck did we get here?, well we may wonder all we like but we're still here. Sadly though we still haven't figured out a lot of the big stuff, even right here smack in the future there's somethings that never change...singing the lyrics to straight to hell makes me wonder how far from 'then', 'now' really is. Those lyrics are getting close to thirty but as they trip off your tongue you realise they could've almost come from earlier this morning (1st, 3rd, 4th verses especially). Do things ever really change?, in spite of the fact I can send you a message in real time, using just my thumbs and be found as a blue dot on a map almost anywheres I hold my phone to the sky, we keep, as I said before, getting the big shit wrong over and over again. The disenfranchised are still just that, the working class, the immigrant, the misfit, the ones who don't fit the 'bold vision' of the future (or the market) become second (or third or fourth) class citizens in the eyes of the world. As we leave people behind the world seems lesser, it becomes tighter, more cruel. The sad thing is as the future rolls on, its easy to miss the ones with the lest opportunity to speak. Straight to Hell is just one example where Joe Strummer seemed to be a yelling a 'hold on!' to the world, 'some of us ain't in the boat yet, if dont do right by 'em we'll be worse off'...when I hear the radio or the songs out in the world today I hear less and less of those voices, or even the voices of those singing on their behalf. That's why ten years on Saturday after Joe Strummer's passing, the songs he wrote and contributed to still have a resonance and relevance that shouts very loudly to me. It's there in 'Yalla, Yalla' also, its a meditation on not giving in, not missing the joy in the world in the face of all of the bad shit I touched on earlier. The crazy township widow of the last verse still has her vision of better world a'comin', its not in focus yet but its there...and even though liberty is yet to show up, we can believe enough to leave a place for it in the world. 
'Yalla, Yalla' is one of those songs that keeps me warm, its a musical version of the famous strummer bonfire, it allows you to sit and be connected...it tells me what a song can be capable off, even with just two chords.
That's what I'm I feeling at 2.45am, thats why we covered these songs because they're meaningful to us and If you follow The Eastern in any which way you are meaningful to us as well you give us the opportunity to keep out in the world, taking stories round and round as best we can. We do this on your goodwill!...so In the spirit of christmas we offer you these two cover songs as a gift to say thanks for being in our corner the past year or so.
Both these songs are big deals to us, so it was trepidation that we recorded them, but we did it anyways, no more than two takes each just quickly in Jessie's spare room, with ben edwards setting up a mic or two in front of us...hopefully if you're a clash fan you dont think they suck to bad and take 'em in the spirit they were meant...we do know we're not worthy!
If you enjoyed the songs keep 'em as our gift, if you wanna pass something on please throw a donation to chch city mission this christmas so they can keep up their good work heres a link
http://www.citymission.org.nz/get-involved/donate/
big or small I'm sure it would be appreciated
viva them and viva you and viva Joe Strummer...





Straight to Hell

the eastern