Album #12 : The Jam - Setting Sons

The Jam

Setting Sons (1979)

The Jam were the biggest band of the British mod revival of the late 1970s. Like many of their punk contemporaries, The Jam were very much concerned with issues of class, social justice and life in a post-Callaghan Thatcherite Britain. Where they differed was their embrace of the mod culture of the 1960s, most notably the look, sound and attitude of The Who. Ripped clothes, piercings and spiky multicoloured mohawks were not for The Jam; no, they preferred smart suits and mod haircuts. However, they were as much a punk band as any other, not in sound but in message.

The Jam consisted of guitarist/vocalist/songwriter extraordinaire (and undisputed idol of Q Magazine) Paul Weller, bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler. All three were key components of the group, with Foxton often providing memorable bass lines and Buckler being a more than capable drummer. But it is Weller, later nicknamed The Modfather, who is the most renowned, and whom has been a stated influence of many more recent British musical superstars.

Setting Sons was the band's fourth album. Apart from containing their first UK Top 10 hit (The Eton Rifles), it also showcases the band's musical ambitiousness. This is the main reason why I chose this work to review; as someone only aware of The Jam's big songs, as well as their big reputation, I wanted to start with an album that covers a multitude of musical ground, as well as one that captures the band at their most comfortable, four albums into their career.

The Album

The opening song, Girl on the Phone, is an occasionally unsettling song about a stalker who seems to know way too much about the song's narrator. The song alternates between several slightly different-sounding sections, while Weller lists the many things that the girl seems to know (everything from what music he likes to the size of his cock). It's a solid opener to the album. Thick as Thieves is a very 70s punk sounding track that has much in common with some early Police tunes. It's driven mainly by Foxton's thundering bass, while the lyrics contain several clever lines with double meanings. Private Hell further demonstrates Foxton's ability to drive a song with his bass; Weller provides a somewhat sad yet bitter set of lyrics about a housewife who is tired, overworked, stressed and bored.

The next song, Little Boy Soldiers, features several distinct movements. Opening with a standard mod rock sound, the song then slows to a largely vocal-driven section before a short yet spiky verse, delivered by Weller with just guitar and vocals. The lyrics are, again, clever, sharp and satirical, as Weller tells the story of the realities (and the myths) of war. It's a brilliant track. Following that we get one of the album's few lower points with Wasteland. It's not necessarily bad, it's just that unlike many of the other tracks on Setting Sons, the music has no real hook. Yet again though we are given another taste of Weller's lyrical genius; the words do such an amazing job of painting a picture of a dilapidated, depressing working class English town.

Things crank back up though with Burning Sky, a really kicking slice of mod rock featuring some punchy instrumentation from all three members. Weller tells another great story of a man meeting an old friend, only to find that the old friend's only concern in life is business, profit, tax and rent, and that having dreams and ideals are a waste of time. The song, told by the friend, extols the man to stop dreaming and become a "greedy bastard" like him. It's the perfect prequel to the next song, Smithers-Jones. Written by Bruce Foxton, it's about a typical working man who works in a typical office and has done the same thing every day for years....except on this day, the man (Smithers-Jones) loses his job. Taken together, the songs give two sides of the same coin - on one hand, the business owner who cares about nothing other than his own selfish ends and needs; while on the other, the working man who suffers, losing his job while the "sun-tanned boss" is "the only one smiling".

Of note about the song Smithers-Jones also is that the whole track is played by a string section. This gives the song a quintessentially English quality, more in keeping with the work of bands like The Beatles or The Kinks. It's a great change of pace.

Saturday's Kids leaves the strings behind and returns to mod/punk. Weller's viciously pointed lyrics about working class teenage Britain leave the listener in no doubt about what he thinks of their lives and their future prospects; he also hints at them simply being products of their parents in what is a first-rate example of generational poverty. Musically, it's a very cool song that owes a lot to their mod idols, The Who; the 'lalala' backing vocals give it a 60s R & B feel. 

That first ever Top 10 hit is next. The Eton Rifles sees Weller in full class warfare mode, penning another biting lyric. The song was based on an altercation between protest marchers and jeering Eton College students. Weller makes some rather sarcastic, snarling observations about the upper-classes ('All that rugby puts hairs on your chest/What chance do you have against a tie and a crest?') that don't just work in the context of the song's immediate meaning, but also have a wider meaning - in class based Britain, the tie and crest of a British public schoolboy opening doors that the plebs would never even know existed. Musically it also snarls, opening with a booming guitar/drum combo before the whole band drive the song with all the power of a nuclear bomb. 

The last song, while perfectly serviceable as a cover, is a little out of place. Heat Wave is a cover of a Motown hit for Martha and the Vandellas. While The Jam's version owes more to a cover done by The Who in the mid 60s, and while their version certainly has a great deal of their trademark punch, thematically it's a song that doesn't quite belong on this album. All of the tracks on Setting Sons deal with themes very close to the heart of punk rockers like Weller...except this one.

The Verdict

Of two things I am absolutely certain. Firstly, The Jam kick arse and I am ashamed of myself that I have never hunted their work down before. Secondly, Paul Weller is one of the most clever lyricists in rock history. Into the thirty-odd minutes of Setting Sons, he (and Foxton) deal with the gamut of human emotion, as well as depicting a bleak yet biting image of everyday British life in the late 1970s. This album is a triumph of songwriting and songcraft, with terrific musicianship (particularly from the excellent Bruce Foxton) to match. It is, however, let down by one or two weaker tracks, and one song that simply has no place here.

In case you can't tell this album really struck a chord with me. I loved it, not just musically but because the lyrics manage to be both clever, yet blunt. This is a prime example of British punk rock, where the music may not have been breakneck speed, but the message was definitively and defiantly counter-culture (yes, DEFIANTLY. Not DEFINITELY. THE BAND IS DEFIANT.)

Not everyone will like this, I'll grant you; some people might find Weller's vocal stylings a bit...well, British. However, if you're looking for a great slice of mod/punk rock that encapsulates working class Britain, this is a great album.

My rating: ****

Standout Tracks

The Eton Rifles

Little Boy Soldiers

Burning Sky

Tomorrow, we go forward to the 1990s and review an album by a punk band that I'm pretty sure every person my age knows. Certainly my bandmates are VERY well versed in it....