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Tuesday, 22 April 2014

Album #110: The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop


The Style Council
Our Favourite Shop (1985)

After leaving seminal mod revival band The Jam in the early 80s, Paul Weller sought a new musical challenge. Eschewing the mod rock/punk sound of his previous group, Weller took on a brand new set of inspirations, namely soul, funk, jazz and synthy new wave. Pairing up with former Dexy's Midnight Runner, keyboardist Mick Talbot, Weller formed The Style Council, a new group with a new sound.

The band was also a vehicle for Weller's political viewpoints. Disgusted with the state of Thatcherite Britain, especially if you weren't in the elite upper class, Weller used The Style Council as a conduit for his most politically biting, occasionally savage, lyrics. 

Our Favourite Shop, the album Weller himself describes as the 'culmination' of the band's musical visions, is up there with any punk album (if not exceeding them) in terms of sheer 'fuck you'-ness, even if, musically, it is anything but punk.

The Album

There's quite a range of styles and sounds on Our Favourite Shop - a veritable council of styles, if you will (OH I CANNOT BELIEVE I WENT THERE.) The only common thread is that all the songs, even the not so good ones, are pure pop; there's nothing aggressive or harsh, it's all sweetly produced with lots of jangly guitar, Hammond organ and piano, with other instruments added for extra emphasis.

Featuring on the album are several jazz numbers (Homebreakers and the instrumental title track are straight up jazz, while Down By The Seine is French flavoured, right down to the French accordion, and With Everything To Lose takes a more Latin jazz turn), some new wave tunes (the synthy The Lodgers and the Simply Red new wave/funk/R&B hybrid Boy Who Cried Wolf), by the numbers pop (Luck and Shout To The Top), a touch of reggae (All Gone Away) and even a few sonic nods to Weller's past life (the rocking, uptempo Walls Come Tumbling Down, the Kinksish Come To Milton Keynes, resplendent with strings, harps and horns, and A Man Of Great Promise).

As if that wasn't enough, the band even fits in an Eleanor Rigby clone, right down to the arrangement of solo vocal over string section (A Stone's Throw Away).

As I said, covers a lot of territory.

It's lyrically where this album shines, however, and interestingly, the anger, bitterness, disillusionment, hopelessness, despair and rage that Weller's lyrics (and drummer Steve White's on one song) convey are rarely, if ever, matched by the music. Musically, it's all sweetness and light while Weller's words snarl underneath. Take, for example, the first three tracks. Homebreakers takes aim at the Conservative government of the time, snarling about taking revenge on "whoever came up with this economy plan" and pointing out the sheer detached snobbery of the Tories' dismissive "move if there's no jobs in your town" approach to rising unemployment of the working classes. Yet the music is smooth, smoky jazz pop that is quite easy listening. All Gone Away is jangly, jaunty reggae; the lyrics talk about the desolation of a northern mining town (assumed to be Bradford) when there's no work for the town's main industry. Come To Milton Keynes is all optimism and light, as are the lyrics for the most part; however the song's denouement unveils the satire behind the curtain, pointing out that the optimistic New Town schemes were, really, doomed to failure (or at the very least sorely detached from reality.)

The politically charged theme continues from there, though not quite as obviously contrasting with the music. Internationalists essentially acts as a detailing of the socialist manifesto, A Stone's Throw Away bemoans 80s Britain's decent into police and political violence against disgruntled citizens, The Stand Up Comic's Instructions (featuring an enthralling guest vocal from comedian Lenny Henry) chides the white 80s comic set for their casual racism, The Lodgers attacks the conservative exploitation of aspirationalism.....by the end of the album you're in no doubt where Weller's loyalties lie.

The undoubted highlight - the perfect maelstrom of supercharged lyrics with supercharged music - comes in the form of Walls Come Tumbling Down. From the outset, with Weller's growled "You don't have to take this crap" directed to the listener, we have the scene set. Weller produces a vocal performance worthy of the attack-dog lyrics, passionate and angry, while the song's tempo and horn section act as a rousing call to arms. It's a great tune and it comes right at the end of the album....the wait is worth it.

The Verdict

It won't set your ears alight musically, but for diversity of styles and for observing a lyrical master at work, Our Favourite Shop is a rather good album. As a perfect encapsulation of the time of its recording, it works beautifully, and given the current conservative political climate, some of the lyrics go to show that, even thirty years later, some leopards never change their spots.

However, there are other themes that are peculiarly British (a charge that Weller has always had laid at him, and may be part of the reason he's never been overly successful outside of Britain) which can make it tough to connect to some tunes, especially if you have no knowledge of the political and social climate surrounding the album.

Nevertheless, it's decent, and it contains some songs that are among Weller's finest efforts.

My rating: *** and a half

Standout Tracks

Walls Come Tumbling Down
Homebreakers
Internationalists

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