Paul Weller: Sonic Kicks - 2012

 

A strangely addictive album, this. In many ways an improvement, certainly sound-wise, from the often tinny, overloud Wake Up The Nation. Here, the sound quality is much more pleasing on the ear, warmer, more bassy, less clashing and is the better for it. It is a stylistically diverse melting pot of an album and I have always really liked it. It is pretty impossible categorise the music, actually, it is like nothing Weller had done previously, although there are some recognisable traits.

The album begins with a short, sharp attack of the strange noises reminiscent of Krautrock band Neu! and odd lyrics of Green, the infuriatingly whistleable Britpop gone berserk of The Attic and the frantic guitar attack of Kling I Klang (whatever that means). Rather like on Wild Wood, there is an instrumental interlude in Sleep Of The Serene before we get a more typical, laid-back, bucolic acoustic Weller number in By The Waters. It could almost be a Style Council song too. 

That Dangerous Age is a return to the furious, upbeat 2012 pop of the first three songs. Almost like some of the vocal material on David Bowie’s Low or "Heroes". In many ways, though, in its experimental feel, this album is Weller’s Station To Station. 

The standout track, in my view, is the mesmerising seven minute “jazz-reggae” of Study In Blue, with Weller sharing vocals with his wife Hannah. Half way through you get a dub-style interlude, complete with mega-heavy bass, melodica, tape loop sound effects and scratching sounds. Add to this some trademark Weller lyrics about gardens, bees, tulips and white cats. Even with The Jam, he liked a bit of this (Tales From The Riverbank). 

Dragonfly is equally impressive, with its rumbling bass and keyboard intro, catchy melody and Weller’s soulful, dreamy vocal. At this point, the album seems to just get better and better. When Your Garden's Overgrown continues the enjoyment, a sort of Kinks-type song for the 21st Century, great lyrics but also packed with strange electronic sounds. 

Around The Lake sees Weller assisted by Noel Gallagher and it is Oasis-like in its brash, loud guitar assault. It is this album’s Echoes Round The Sun from 22 Dreams, which also featured Gallagher. It morphs into the almost 60s Beatles-ish psychedelic sound of the swirling, dense Drifters via the short sound effects of Twilight. 

Paperchase is an odd, brooding, insistent, bass-driven mournful song that again defies categorisation. Finally, Weller delves into mainstream soul with a rather sickly song for his kids, Be Happy Children that sees him adopting a Marvin Gaye singing style, of a sort. A perplexing end to a perplexing but stimulating album.

Non-album tracks

The non-album tracks from the period were the dreamy, chilled-out vibe of Starlite and the jaunty acoustic folk of Devotion. Both of these were tracks that had different ambiences to the material on the album, showing just what a diverse artist Weller was at the time.

Also dating from this album's sessions were the vaguely Motown-ish, organ-backed The Piper which features a fine, soulful Weller vocal, lovely bass line and a bit of a retro Style Council sound; the somewhat impenetrable, Eastern-influenced and psychedelic Portal To The Past; the scratchy riffs and muffled drums of We Got A Lot (a track that has grown on me) and the ethereally smoky folk of Lay Down Your Weary Burden.