The Pogues

Rum Sodomy & the Lash is the second studio album by the London-based folk punk band The Pogues, released on 5 August 1985. The album reached number 13 in the UK charts. The track "A Pair of Brown Eyes", based on an older Irish tune, reached number 72 in the UK singles chart. "The Old Main Drag" later appeared on the soundtrack to the film My Own Private Idaho. The album's title is taken from a quotation attributed to Winston Churchill: "Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash." The title was suggested by drummer Andrew Ranken, who said "it seemed to sum up life in our band". The cover artwork painted by Peter Mennim is based on The Raft of the Medusa, a Romantic-era painting by Theodore Géricault, with the band members' faces replacing those of the men on the raft.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pogues career, Rhino are releasing a limited edition double red Vinyl version of the London show from December 1991 when Joe Strummer was fronting the group. The legendary performance showcases Strummer’s vocals and guitar in perfect harmony with the musical prowess of the Pogues 7 piece. At just short of 80 minutes, the electric set contains all the Pogues biggest hits like ‘If I Should Fall From Grace With God,’ ‘Dirty Old Town’ and ‘Fiesta’ alongside classic Clash tracks such as ‘London Calling,’ ‘I Fought The Law’ and ‘Straight To Hell.’

If Rum Sodomy & the Lash captured the Pogues on plastic in all their rough-and-tumble glory, If I Should Fall from Grace with God proved they could learn the rudiments of proper record making and still come up with an album that captured all the sharp edges of their musical personality. Producer Steve Lillywhite imposed a more disciplined approach in the studio than Elvis Costello had, but he had the good sense not to squeeze the life out of the band in the process; as a result, the Pogues sound tighter and more precise than ever, while still summoning up the glorious howling fury that made Rum Sodomy & the Lash so powerful.

"I saw my task… was to capture them in their delapidated glory before some more professional producer f–ked them up," Elvis Costello wrote of his role behind the controls for the Pogues' second album, Rum Sodomy & the Lash. One spin of the album proves that Costello accomplished his mission; this album captures all the sweat, fire, and angry joy that was lost in the thin, disembodied recording of the band's debut, and the Pogues sound stronger and tighter without losing a bit of their edge in the process.