New Music Releases

Description

While other first-generation British punk bands embraced art and nihilism, the Jam offered working-class soul–solid, honest rhythms that were a ray of hope to the country’s recession-racked youth. SOUND AFFECTS was released at the height of the Jam’s popularity, and found frontman Paul Weller at his songwriting peak. Equally as influenced by Motown as by punk, Weller’s songs defy categorisation. While “Start!” (a No. 1 hit in England) is as upbeat as the best James Brown, the driving instrumentation of “Set The House Ablaze”, “Monday” and “Boy About Town” bears comparison to the the early Who. There are even ska echoes on “Music For The Last Couple”.But the most enduring quality of these songs is their humanism. (more…)