Friday, May 5, 2017
the other stuff, rated highly by others, that was going on at the same time #1
the next level of nostalgia: when you start taking an interest in the stuff you didn't care for much at the time
there was always something a bit... not-pulled-off about the Style Council's attempts at being funny
like the deep true British soul of Weller is his humourless fanaticism
the very thing that is worthy of respect
that made the Jam powerful
whereas Style Council felt like an attempt to move beyond those real strengths (earnestness, stiffness, urgency, gawky intensity, uptightness, sour vision) into zones of actual weakness (jazz - come off it mate! funk - pull the other one)
moments of getting there, of almost-love
this first one was the one that I really liked, unreservedly
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3 comments:
Comparisons cd be drawn with his hero Ray Davies in the 70s - the misbegotten attempt at acting (Star Maker), dodgy concept albums, songs called Money Go Round, the quest for approbation. Still have a soft spot for Style Council's best-of tho
"Long Hot Summer" is really good I think. The thing about Weller is that he's one of those people who really has the music in them. There's a song on All Mod Cons, I think "To Be Someone", where he uses about five different riffs which any other band would have given their eye teeth for, and he just uses and discards them.
Weller's awkwardness certainly seems to be the deal maker or deal breaker with a lot people. I quite like the fact that he's not a fully rounded character, a bit charmless. It's what makes him one of "us".
yeah e.g. "Going Underground" is bulging with melodic and riff-structural ideas
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