The Loved Ones

"Coma Girl"

by John Vettese

Who knew that Dave Hause could pull off a strummier Strummer? While the Philly punk stalwart and his band The Loved Ones work on the follow-up to last year's terrific Build and Burn, they filled the gap with Distractions (Fat Wreck), an EP of new cuts and acoustic covers that dropped last month. The set is capped by a jovial take on Joe Strummer's "Coma Girl," a tune from the Clash frontman's posthumous album, Streetcore. Hause reimagines the rhythmic stomper as a clean acoustic shuffle, accented by harmonic glimmers and slight keyboard chimes. The song concerns a rowdy anarcho-biker gang, and in particular, the femme fatale at its core, who enchants our narrator, leads him away from the muddy world of some West Coast festival, trashes the concession stands and teaches him about life. The original totally captured that grit and mayhem with Billy Bragg-esque roomy electric guitar, Strummer's trademark reggae chops and a muscular backbeat. But if folk is the new punk, The Loved Ones' rendition nails its unspoken strengths: storytelling fortitude, proletarian spirit and chords that beg to be played a jangly acoustic.

Dave Hause plays two solo acoustic shows March 26 in First Unitarian Church's chapel. While we're expecting dry runs of new Loved Ones cuts, some Strummer in the mix would be nice indeed.