The Jam - All Mod Cons

 

"All Mod Cons" was the third album from by The Jam, and after their first two LPs were released in quick succession, this one was a year later. Although "This Is The Modern World" hinted at their future direction, this album marked a significant change, both with the increasing maturity of the musicianship, the story telling, and a shift from angry young men in the inner-city to observations on middle-class commuters and suburbia. There was only the odd remnant to remind you they were a punk band, but had moved to the mainstream.

The title is an idiom for modern conveniences, the modern facilities in a house that make it easy and pleasant to live. It is also a pun on the band's association with the mod revival in the UK. The joke continues with the album cover, shot in an empty room apart from two basic chairs.

At the time it was released I thought this was a great album, and looking at the track listing there were only two songs I couldn't remember, one for them embarrassingly being the title track !

The opening track "All Mod Cons" has a slowly spoken 1-2-3-4 to start, then the guitar and bass come in, followed by aggressive drumming. It finishes with guitar feedback. The song is an angry outburst about being exploited by their record label. Short at 1 minute 20 seconds, it is one of the few moments that could have been on the first two albums, and gives a false sense of what is too come. "You waste my time when my time comes".

"To Be Someone ( Didn't We Have A Nice Time )" has a lovely tune and there is a hint of The Beatles "Taxman" with some of the guitar lines. It tells the story of wanting to be famous, getting there, attracting loads of hangers-on, then being left when everything has been squandered, but reflecting "didn't we have a nice time". It's one of the best songs on the album.

"Mr Clean" is the first song about the commuter belt, such as those in Paul Weller's home town of Woking taking the train into Waterloo for work. It starts slowly and the guitar is not too dissimilar to that of The Eagles "Witchy Woman". It has a mellow middle 8, then the drums and guitars lead to the crescendo of the rising coda "getting pissed at the annual office do, smart blue suit and you went to Cambridge too, you miss page 3 but The Times is right for you, and mum and dad are very proud of you"

Next up is "David Watts", an energetic cover of The Kinks song where Bruce Foxton sings the verse and Weller the bridge. A song in admiration of the head boy at school who leads the school team to victory, takes his exams and passes the lot but doesn't seem to be interested in girls. It has some fantastic bass, a thumping piano and the "fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa" sounds like The Rolling Stones "Let's Spend The Night together". The "Oi's" will later re-appear in "Eton Rifles". The first single from the album, I was surprised to see it only reached number 25 in the charts as I thought it was a huge hit. Well, it should have been !

"English Rose" isn't included on the track listing on the back cover nor the lyrics sheet. The suggestions were that Weller was embarrassed by a beautiful, delicate and touching acoustic love song. It begins with the sounds of waves and ship's horn sound in the distance. It is another departure from anything else previously released by The Jam. "No-one can ever tempt me from she".

Side one closes with "In The Crowd" a great jangle-pop song about being part of the masses. The tempo increases after a slow beginning and there is a nice gentle guitar break. It has a Beatles feel to it before a lengthy psychedelic guitar outro with "Away From The Numbers", a track from "In The City" and another song about being part of the herd, sung in the background. The outro goes on for a bit too long though. "As I catch falling cans of baked beans on toast, technology is the most" and "When I'm in the crowd I can't remember my name". I'm not sure what supermarket Weller shops at, but I've never seen cans of baked beans on toast anywhere !

The side two opener "Billy Hunt" is The Jam's equivalent of "David Watts" but instead a working class lad has delusions of grandeur. "No-one pushes Billy Hunt around, well they do but not for long". It has a catchy sing-along chorus of "Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy".

"It's Too Bad" is essentially a rework of The Who's "So Sad About Us" but it is still a very good track despite that, and on replay was my favourite song on the album. It's a lovely 1960's style song amd with the guitar break I keep expecting it to lead into The Beatles "She Loves You".

"Fly" is another gentle song with an acoustic guitar intro but builds up into a Who style crescendo, which will later be repeated on "Smithers-Jones" on "Setting Sons".

"The Place I Love" was one of the songs I couldn't remember and I am a bit embarrassed to admit to it. Starting with an pulsating R&B riff it has with a gorgeous melody  "I'm making a stand against the world"

"'A' Bomb In Wardour Street" is the Jam at their most bombastic as it describes the discovery of a bomb in a street in London where one of the more popular punk night-clubs was located whilst the police and the local yobs indulge in violence. The hand claps are perhaps the highlight.

"Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" was the big hit from the album and their can't be many people unfamiliar with the song. Essentially a song about a middle class, middle age commuter being beaten up by right wing thugs late at night late at night at a tube station. Starting with the sound of a tube train, it has a dominant bass riff , "A distant echo of fair away voices boarding far away trains" and "The smell of brown leather, it blended into the weather". There is some great train style drumming before a brief stop for the sound of noises from a tube station before the music cheerfully returns. It's a great production.

In summary, All Mod Cons remains as great album, and there isn't a poor track on it.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. All Mod Cons
2. To Be Someone ( Didn't We Have A Nice Time )
3. Mr Clean
4. David Watts
5. English Rose
6. In The Crowd

Side Two :

1. Billy Hunt
2. It's Too Bad
3. Fly
4. The Place I Love
5. 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street
6. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

Released 1978
UK Chart Position : 6

Singles :

David Watts ( No 25 - 1978 )
Down In The Tube Station At Midnight ( No 15 - 1978 )

 

The Jam - This Is The Modern World

Rushed out 6 months after their debut album "In The City", "This Is The Modern World" is regularly seen as The Jam's worst album. However, for me it was more of a transitional piece as perhaps indicated by the picture for the front cover, with the band in smart, casual dress rather than suits.

The sticker on the cover shows I paid £2.99 for the album but it doesn't say from where !

When it was released I was also amongst those who didn't think it was as good as "In The City", but I liked the title track and "In The Streets, Today", and I knew "The Midnight Hour" was a cover, as the original was on one of my elder brother's R&B/Soul collections from the 1960s. I thought there were also a few reasonable songs, but looking at the track listing now although I recognised a few of the titles, I wasn't exactly sure how most of them went.

The almost title track "The Modern World" opens side one and remains the stand-out track. Aggressive and angry, it a tremendous anthem for its time and the vocals are great. "What kind of fool do you think I am ? You think I know nothing of the modern world". The line “Don't have to explain myself to you, I don't give two f***s about your review” was sanitised for the single.

The first of two Bruce Foxton contributions "London Traffic" is a 1960s riff meets punk. There are hints of early Beatles, especially "I Feel Fine", but it ends up sounding like The Vibrators on a bad day.

The next three songs demonstrate the band's increasing maturity and move to a more sophisticated sound. They could almost be a trilogy. "Standards" has a riff borrowed from The Who, somewhere between "I Can't Explain" and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", which I kept thinking would morph into "Crazy, Crazy Nights" by Kiss.  "Oh, we make the standards and we make the rules. And if you don't abide by them, you must be a fool"

"Life From A Window" is something completely different from anything previously released by The Jam and gives an indication of the direction the band would move towards on their next album. A mid-paced, almost mellow song, and there is even some acoustic guitar which wouldn't sound out of place on New Order's "Technique" album, although the song's big finish is straight out of The Who playbook. "I'm looking from a skyscraper, I'm standing on the post office tower, So I can see all there is to see".

"The Combine" is another mid-paced song with some interesting guitar and great bass lines. "And life is very difficult, when you're in the crowd.When you're in the crowd, you see things as they really are"

Side One closes with "Don't Tell Them You're Sane", the second ( and last ) song from Bruce Foxton. It's another mid-pace track and is a critique of mental health treatment in the UK rather than a tribute to the ex-Liverpool German striker ! It's the album's low point. Lyrically it tries hard but actually sounds trite. Also, the feedback to finish is irritating.

Side Two opens in great fashion with "In The Street, Today". Short ( 1 minute 31 seconds long ), aggressive and with some fast drumming for the intro, a frantic guitar break and more nice bass lines, it could have been on their first album. "The kids want some action, and who can f***ing blame them now ?"

"London Girl" is unfortunately not the song of the same name by The Pogues. Instead, its a fast paced number with a gimmicky "La-La-La-La-La London Girl" chorus, and the main guitar riff made me think of Generation X's "Ready, Steady, Go". "Do you know what you're looking for ? Streets of gold, fame and fortune ? You didn't fancy working in a factory but your mum and dad didn't agree"

The mood changes with "I Need You ( For Someone )", a 1960s pop love song with an understated guitar break. Again, the bass playing is impressive.

"Here Comes The Weekend" starts with a spoken "OK, all right, here it comes" over the intro, the type of which was obligatory at least once on punk albums at the time. If features pulsating bass, a good tune and a glorious chorus and middle eight. A power pop song before the phrase was invented. "Here comes the weekend, I get to see the girls, long live the weekend, the weekend starts here"

"Tonight At Noon" has a whimsical introduction. I can't tell if it supposed to be Punch and Judy or a newspaper street vendor, but it fades away into a slower, mellow love song where the acoustic guitar dominates. The rhythm of the song sounds like a slowed down version of their earlier hit single "All Around The World". The lyrics include "When we meet at the midnight hour, I will bring you night flowers" which leads nicely into....

.....a workmanlike cover of Wilson Pickett's1960s R&B classic,"Midnight Hour". Weller is credited with playing the harmonica, for what I think it the only time on any The Jam track.

The retrospective appraisal of the album is that is much better than it is generally given credit for, and there are several moments of real quality. The instrumentation is impressive, and there is a clear road map of the transition from early punk to the future sophistication of the later "Setting Sons" album. 

However, it does sound rushed and some of the songs come across as unfinished. Perhaps with some more time lyrics could have been edited to better fit the tune, or not sound so clumsy or jarring. Furthermore, with a bit of finesse, some of the song's structures could have been fitted together better. 

Nevertheless, "This Is The Modern World" is an important album.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. The Modern World
2. London Traffic
3. Standards
4. Life From A Window
5. The Combine
6. Don't Tell Them You're Sane

Side Two :

1. In The Street, Today
2. London Girl
3. I Need You ( For Someone )
4. Here Comes The Weekend
5. Tonight At Noon
6. The Midnight Hour

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 22

Singles :

The Modern World ( No 36 - 1977 )

 

The Jam - In The City

I'm not sure if this was the first punk album I ever bought, but it was either this or the Stranglers' Rattus Norvegicus. 

Some would argue "In The City" wasn't actually punk and The Jam rode on the coat-tails of the punk movement. After all, they wore suits and ties, they were anti the Labour government of the day, and Paul Weller famously said he would vote Tory at the next election. They were not trying to cause anarchy and mostly sang about dancing, relationships and the frustrations of growing up and living in 1970's Britain. 

In "Sounds From The Streets" Weller actually sang "I know I come from Woking and you say I'm a fraud, but my heart is in the city where it belongs", virtually acknowledging The Jam were outsiders.

Musically, the production on "In The City" was rough and unpolished, but with the Rickenbacker guitar sound, strong melodies and 1960s R&B influences, critics regularly made mention of echos of The Who and The Kinks. Indeed, one critic commented that "In The City" sounded more like The Who than The Who ever did ! 

Instead, it was said that The Jam were in fact the leaders of The Mod Revival rather than The Lambrettas, The Merton Parkas or Secret Affair. I don't think they were ever photographed with mopeds though !

Shortly after the release of "In The City", The Jam came to play a gig in Crawley, but it sold out almost immediately so I wasn't able to see them.

Looking at the track list I could remember all the songs except the last three. "Away From The Numbers" and "Sounds From The Streets" were the songs I remember liking best.

Side One opens with "Art School", which is perhaps the most punk song recorded by The Jam. It has a traditional punk 1-2-3-4 at the start and guitar feedback at the end. Possessing choppy guitar and fast paced aggression but still catchy, the song calls for a rejection of the normal conventions and to do and wear whatever you like. "The media as watchdog is absolutely shit, the TV telling you what to think"

"I've Changed My Address" is one of The Who sound alike songs, with the 19 year old Weller calling out the dangers of getting married and settling down too young. "Never could see what was with this matrimony thing" and "Couldn't see me settling down with a mortgage and kids"

"Slow Down" is a cover of a 1950's song that was also covered by Beatles. There is a great bass line and  manic drumming, and a guitar solo.

"I Got By Time" is slightly slower and has a strong 1960s feel to it. I loved the middle 8 and the backing vocals from Bruce Foxton.

"Away From The Numbers" remains a fantastic song. Touching, melodic, almost mellow, and a glorious chorus, but it builds up to an angry chorus. "I was sick and tired of my little niche"

The "Batman Theme" was also covered by The Who, and is a joke that fades after a couple of plays. It always reminds me of the joke of how does Batman's mum call him to come home for his meals ? Batman, dinner, dinner, dinner !

"In The City" has a similar riff to the Sex Pistols' "Holidays In The Sun" and the two bands used to play the other song as an intro to their own song, It was the only single from the album, and I was surprised it see it only got to number 40 in the UK chart.

"Sounds From The Streets" has a super melody, great guitar and almost Motown style backing vocals. It's easy to imagine The Who singing this song.

"Non-Stop Dancing" is a stomping R&B song and another track with a great middle 8.

"Time For The Truth" is a critique of the then Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan. "I think it's time for truth and the truth is you've lost, uncle Jimmy" and "and you're trying to play the hero, but you never walk home in the dark". It's a good song, and I was surprised I couldn't remember it.

"Takin' My Love" is a standard rocker with the riff of the verse similar to "Slow Down". It is pretty much in the category of album filler.

The album closer "Bricks And Mortar" moans about knocking down houses to build car parks, but it has the least interesting tune of all the songs on the album, and a long guitar outro. I've already forgotten how it goes.

In summary, "In The City" remains a very good album, with a number of outstanding songs.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Art School
2. I've Changed My Address
3. Slow Down
4. I Got By In Time
5. Away From The Numbers
6. Batman Theme

Side Two :

1. In The City
2. Sounds From The Streets
3. Non-Stop Dancing
4. Time For The Truth
5. Takin' My Love
6. Bricks And Mortar

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 20

Singles :

In The City ( No 40 - 1977 )