After the success of "Setting Sons", The Jam achieved their first UK number one hit single with the non-album track "Going Underground". This success was repeated with "Start !", the lead-off single from their next album "Sound Affects", which was released a couple of months ahead of the LP.
Frankly, I didn't like "Start !" as it was very similar, especially the bass and guitar lines, to The Beatles' "Taxman", which was one my least favourite songs by the Fab 4.
I didn't buy the album when it was released, but I thought "That's Entertainment" was a great song so bought the single. Eventually I got around to be buying the album, with the stickers on the cover showing it had been reduced from £3.49 to £2.49 in W H Smiths.
At the time I was disappointed with the album, with a much softer, less rockier sound than "Setting Sons", and whereas there wasn't a bad song on "Setting Sons", there were a few tracks on "Sound Affects" in addition to "Start !" I didn't like, and I felt there was a shortage of killer songs. In particular, I wasn't fond of "Set The House Ablaze", "Music For The Last Couple" and "Scrape Away". On the positive side, I thought That's Entertainment" was brilliant, and "But I'm Different Now" and "Boy Around Town" were good. A couple of the others were in the category of nice but not outstanding.
I subsequently read an interview with Paul Weller where he said the album was intended to be a crossover between The Beatles' "Revolver" and Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall". Whilst I can see it is heavily influenced by "Revolver" I can't say I see anything that might have come from "Off The Wall". Indeed, I would say there are the usual Kinks/The Who 1960s influences here, and the more experimental sounds are reminiscent of perhaps XTC, or even Devo !
Side One begins with "Pretty Green", which was apparently the record label executives' choice for the first single, but were apparently persuaded to release "Start !" instead. It is a nice song but not particularly outstanding. It has a bass intro, and then crisp drums, after which the far from catchy "I've got a pocket of pretty green" refrain comes in. The song does have a pleasing middle-eight though which leads into a decent Beatles style guitar ( or is it sitar ? ) solo from their Maharishi period.
"Monday" is a slow, dreamlike slab of 1960's pop which might have been in the Kinks play-book. Like many Jam songs it has a prominent bass and strong harmonies but perhaps more unusually there is some piano in lower down in the mix. The bass at times made me think of XTC's "Senses Working Overtime", which admittedly came after this ! Lyrically the song is about a shy lad who dreams of seeing a girl at work again after the weekend.
"But I'm Different Now" changes the mood. It's short, less than 2 minutes of raw, two chord energy, and has a great ending. It could easily have been on one of the first two albums. "So glad that you're my girl"
"Set The House Ablaze" in contrast is over 5 minutes long, with Ruts "Babylon's Burning" style guitar, whistles, and the vocal so low in mix at times it is hard to hear the lyrics. It's the angriest song on Sound Affects and better than I remembered it to be !
"Start !" still sounds like "Taxman" but with attitude. I still don't like it much and I'm surprised there was no law suit, especially as there have been so many less obvious claims in recent years. Perhaps George Harrison was reluctant as he was being sued around the same time for "My Sweet Lord" sounding like "He's So Fine" ?
The acoustic ballad "That's Entertainment" remains a classic, with the poetry of depressing urban squalor with just a faint hint of optimism towards the end. I love the acoustic guitar, bass, harmonies and the very understated percussion.
Side Two starts with "Dream Time" which has some backward pseudo psychedelic sounds to start before launching into a standard rocker that would not be out of place on "All Mod Cons". It has a great 60s hook. "I saw the lights and the pretty girls and I thought to myself what a pretty world. But there's something else here that puts me off, and I'm so scared dear, my love comes in frozen packs bought in a supermarket".
"Man In The Corner Shop" is pretty but musically lightweight. It is very The Beatles, and has plenty of sing along la la la's alongside the jangly guitar. "They know that god created all men equal".
The first minute of "Music For The Last Couple" is essentially a collection of noises before the bass and guitar riffs come in after about a minute. It's a instrumental apart from the line "I think of boats and trains, and all those things that make you want to get away" which gets repeated a few times. Musically it reminds me of XTC circa 1979.
"Boy About Town" is bouncy pop song with a horn arrangement that hints at the later soul influences sounds on "The Gift". It has a gimmicky vocal ending but I like it ! The drumming on this song is also really good.
I had to listen to "Scrape Away" several times and gradually started to appreciate it a little. It has some funky bass playing and excellent drumming. The guitar sounds like it belongs in a 60s or 70s detective/crime series but overall it is another song that sounds more like XTC than The Beatles. For me, it remains the low point of the album.
Listening again to "Sound Affects" it has risen in my estimation. It's still not as good as "Setting Sons" thought !
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. Pretty Green
2. Monday
3. But I'm Different Now
4. Set The House Ablaze
5. Start !
6. That's Entertainment
1. Dream Time
2. Man In The Corner Shop
3. Music For The Last Couple
4. Boy About Town
5. Scrape Away
Released 1980
UK Chart Position : 2
Singles :
Start ( No 1 - 1980 )
That's Entertainment ( No 21 - 1980 )
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