Sound Affects

1	Pretty Green 2:38
2	Monday 2:59
3	But I'm Different Now 1:51
4	Set the House Ablaze 5:01
5	Start? 2:31
6	That's Entertainment 3:34
7	Dream Time 3:54
8	Man in the Corner Shop 3:13
9	Music for the Last Couple 3:43
10	Boy About Town 1:59
11	Scrape Away 4:00

Barnes & Noble

The Jam showed up in 1976, the archetype of London's neo-mod subculture that sported Italian loafers, rode Vespa scooters, and obsessed over the pre-operatic Who. Early on, the band delivered peppy punk anthems replete with salvos like "youth explosion!" but by 1980, with the release of the near-perfect SOUND EFFECTS, lead singer Paul Weller had matured into one of the most expressive (and beloved) songsmiths in British pop. Taking cues from Motown and the mid-'60s singles of the Kinks and the Who, Weller wrote soulful, touching songs about urban alienation (the acoustic "That's Entertainment"), love (the spare, gentle "Monday"), and mod life (the rockers "Pretty Green" and "Boy About Town"). While his tough Cockney accent have alienated American radio programmers, he had his belated moment years later when Brit-pop bands like Blur, Pulp, and Oasis stole his songwriting style (and his mod haircut) to win over Stateside listeners. Today, SOUND EFFECTS stands as one of the best new wave records, in a category with Elvis Costello's THIS YEAR'S MODEL and the Police's OUTLANDOS D' AMOUR. Jon Dolan

All Music Guide

Unhappy with the slicker approach of Setting Sons, the Jam got back to basics, using the direct, economic playing of All Mod Cons and "Going Underground," the simply brilliant single which preceded Sound Affects by a few months. Thematically, though, Paul Weller explored a more indirect path, leaving behind (for the most part) the story-song narratives in favor of more abstract dealings in spirituality and perception -- the approach stemming from his recent readings of Blake and Shelley (who was quoted on the sleeve), but more specifically Geoffrey Ash, whose Camelot and the Vision of Albion made a strong impression. Musically, Weller drew upon Revolver-era Beatles as a primary source (the bassline on "Start," which comes directly from "Taxman," being the most obvious occurrence), incorporating the occasional odd sound and echoed vocal, which implied psychedelia without succumbing to its excesses. From beginning to end, the songs are pure, clever, infectious pop -- probably their catchiest -- with "That's Entertainment" and the should-have-been-a-single "Man in the Corner Shop" standing out. Chris Woodstra