The Jam: This Is The Modern World - 1977
"I don't give two fucks about your review" - Paul Weller
Often maligned as “the difficult second album” when Paul Weller supposedly suffered from “writer’s block”. You what? You having a laugh?
This was a far, far better album than it was ever given credit for. The sound on it is good too - full, punchy and solid, lots of impressive bass and drums. Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler were equally important to The Jam as Paul Weller at this point. Buckler, especially, really stands out on this album - a real powerhouse.
Let's head out into the street today....
There are actually some really good songs on here and none much better than the barnstorming opener, title track and lead-off single, The Modern World. Weller proclaims his personal independence and determination to prove everyone wrong who questioned him in his youth. The song's "I don't give two fucks about your review" line should never be changed by editing to "a damn" as it is on some releases. The original album version contained the correct, visceral vernacular and quite right too, it is the song's best line. Maybe Weller doesn't give two fucks about this review either, also quite rightly.Bruce Foxton's short, punky thrash, London Traffic, is a classic example of the songwriter's desire to write something meaningful along with a wish to "sound punk" to convince many doubters as to the band's genuine punk credentials. The sentiments are fine, if a little clumsily expressed and the sound is exciting enough, but nothing special, Far from it.
Much better is the fabulously riffy, Who-influenced rabble rouser, Standards, that brings to mind that band's I Can't Explain. It rails against "the system" in true punk style and also allow Weller to show his eruditeness by quoting George Orwell's 1984 - "you all know what happened to Winston", referencing the book's Winston Smith character.
Life From A Window was the first Jam track I heard that made me think that they were more than punky political railers/mod revivalists. Its vague, dreamy hippy idealism "up here I can see the world" showed that the young Weller was far more than a monosyllabic "lad" but a young man with some sensitive, astute views. Musically it evinces such theories too with its clever construction. The song is poetic and has an acoustic/electric psychedelic feel to it. The Jam had something.
The Combine was one of the album's best songs with its excellent guitar-vocal fade out and forerunner of In The Crowd lyrics, it is the equal of anything on the much-lauded next album. It references contemporary news events - "war in Rhodesia", and popular culture - "Ena Sharples, Page Three girls...", as well as sniping against the system once more. What would become familiar themes of wanting to escape from it all are expressed too. Musically, it's excellent. A bad album? My arse.Foxton's second contribution, Don't Tell Them You're Sane, leaves something to be desired, however. Moving from traffic pollution to mental health in his superficially laudable quest to be meaningful his lyrics are sixth-form at best, probably fourth/fifth-form. Let's be honest, they always were during his period with The Jam - well-intentioned and earnest maybe, but often simplistic and naïve. Musically, they were usually uninspiring as well. While London Traffic was punkily enthusiastic, this is clunky and dull. Like Foxton's lumpen News Of The World single, it was eminently forgettable.
From its pounding Rick Buckler drum intro, the punchy, frantic In The Street Today positively bristles with punky energy. Check out the bit where Weller's guitar comes slashing in. All these years later it still excites me to hear it. It also contains a great line in "the kids want some action, and who can fucking blame them now". London Girl was a sad tale of a girl who left home to sleep rough in London sung against a semi-punky backing. Ten years after Paul McCartney's She's Leaving Home its realism makes that song sound completely harmless. Somehow, though, the song always seems to get forgotten about.
I have to admit that there are better ones on here, one of which being I Need You (For Someone) which was another Jam song that shared a title with a Who song from the sixties. This was Weller's first big, raw and tender love song (presumably written to then girlfriend Gill Price). Musically, it has echoes of The Who but lyrically, despite the writer's youth, it is still very much Weller's own sensitive creation.
A live show fist pumper, Here Comes The Weekend was a proper lads' anthem about scoring some drugs and going out to pick up a girl and have a great time. It perpetuates the mod good time ethic while at the same time giving us a bit more of Weller's innate cynicism - "if we tell you that you've got two days to live, then don't complain 'cos that's one more than you' get in Zaire..".
Tonight At Noon was an ever better love song than I Need You was this adaptation of an Adrian Henri poem from 1967, showing once more how well-read Weller was. It is a beautiful song, lyrically and musically. Again, it thoroughly contradicts the view that this was poor album. The album ends with a lively, live-sounding cover of Wilson Pickett's iconic The Midnight Hour from the sixties. It is brim-full of energy and harks back to the first album. Weller plays a mean harmonica on it too.
In conclusion, the album, despite coming out at the height of punk in late 1977, had so many songs on it that showed that The Jam were not going to be your basic three chord, frantic punk band. Only the afore-mentioned London Traffic and In The Street Today really fitted the punk blueprint. Yes, The Modern World and Here Comes The Weekend have the attitude and some of the anger, but they are, despite their solidity, much slower in pace. There is something still so stirring about Here Comes The Weekend, though, and, once again, it is a song I never tire of hearing. The sixties influence from The Who, The Small Faces and freakbeat-psych pop is all over this album. You could see how All Mod Cons developed out of this. The rough edges were ironed out and a poppier sensibility honed.The foundations were laid here, though, and as I said before, do not dismiss this album. For me, actually, I prefer it to The Gift and parts of Sound Affects too, would you believe. The sound on both these albums, as released on the 1977 box set, is excellent, coming thumping bassily out of your speakers, as indeed it is on the more interesting than usual demo tracks and the live gig from London’s 100 club which is good as one could hope for from a sweaty, cramped room in 1977.
To boringly reiterate, this is an unfairly condemned album, containing some really good material, in my opinion. I love the cover too, the lads looking out under the Westway with the sun on their faces on the front and that classic Bruce Foxton "jump" shot on the back, so evocative of their live performances at the time. The inner lyric sleeve had some excellent artwork too. Give this one a chance and re-visit it. Sermon over.
The 'b' side contained two tracks, firstly another Foxton one in Innocent Man, which bore the same lyrical traits and blatantly plagiarised the riff from The Who's Baba O'Riley. It was another "cause" song, this time about an unjust incarceration. We all got a Paul Weller track in Aunties And Uncles (Impulsive Youths), which, although melodically an improvement, was not Weller's best and lacks direction and cohesion. In many ways, it sounds a bit like a Foxton song. Sorry Paul. It was rightly left off the album.
Also dating from these sessions was Weller's brief, melodic and piano-driven Worlds Apart. It was a song sort of half way there, some of the lyrics later being used on Strange Town - "I've been at your clubs where the music's loud...".
