Street Revolution by Louise Distras

Introduction

Today I recieved a Facebook friend request from Louise Distras. I was a little suspricious at first as spammers and the like take names and then send friend requests, then mine your friend list to spam them.

I checked her profile and there was no doubt this was her, and this gave me a really great lift as I have met with her once, and communicated on an off over the years, but we had a long conversation on messenger this morning both feeling glad of the reconnection.

I met Louise three years back (see here) , and in our conversation she asked me to review her new single, which I will do over the next few days.

Louise is from Yorkshire (Wakefield) and I had heard a couple of songs from here excellent "Street Revolution" EP, the first of which was "Poor Man" (How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?) originally composed by Blind Alfred Reed in 1929 (Louise told me about this) which I had first heard from a Ry Cooder live album although it appeared on his 1970 eponymous album and I got into him when "Bop Til You Drop" (the first ever digital recorded mainstream rock album) came out, but I digress.

She came on stage unannounced and her voice and guitar just signifies extreme presence, she engaged with the crowd and got them singing , stamping and clapping on cue. She played for thirty five minutes and played "Poor Man" and then "Solidarity" which is a mash up of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" and Little Steven's "Solidarity", and apparently Little Steven was most impressed with it. Louise's song is absolutely excellent although I had bought the EP before she started.

I chatted with her after (although didn't recognise her at first as I started say how excellent Louise Distras had been). She is someone I definitely need to listen to more and if you do get the chance to see her, just do it.

This is just to share the songs from the "Street Revolution" EP with some of my observations. I do play it a lot while I work and often share on Instagram and other Social Media.

I will probably repeat myself in the comments on the video, but if you like her music you can get it from Bandcamp plus the other standard music platforms. Her website is below with a taster for the new single, a collaboration with Steve Ignorant.

Her Bandcamp page is here.

This is the full introduction from her Bandcamp page:

Tipped as the voice of punk‘s next generation, Louise Distras plays a socially conscious and insightful brand of protest poetry descended from The Clash bloodline.

Her path from hardship to heart-felt anthems began when she ran away from home, aged 16. Armed with a guitar and the few chords she knew she decided to play music for anyone who’d listen.

Here We Go with the music.

Street Revolution

I love this, it is so rousing and described as:

A rallying anthem for the new underground movement of working class kids, rising together through music to fight for our future.

New World In Our Heart

This is a stripped down protest that makes you listen to every word, starting out almost acappella and finishing almost steamrollering you. A great, powerful performance and song.

How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live?

A stunning performance of this song which I first heard by Ry Cooder, but Louise delivers this perfectly.

This song was written through the eyes of Blind Alfred Reed amongst the abject poverty of 1929. Around the same time Billie Holiday sang ‘Strange Fruit’ which was written in similar conditions that still apply to the world today, making both songs timeless classics.

Solidarity

I love this song so much, everything about it is perfect. Here is what Louise says.

‘Solidarity’ is my interpretation of Little Steven’s 1984 hit, which also includes a homage to Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’. We all walk on common ground, as Little Steven said in his classic track. Redemption is the act of being saved from sin and "everybody just wants to be forgiven" is a heartfelt observation that everyone around the world can identify with.

Now go to Bandcamp and buy it.