More interested in social comment than political confrontation, the Jam breathed a sophistication that was generally lacking in the British punk movement. The young Paul Weller mixed punk anger with 1960s mod guitar to mark out the Jam from their contemporaries and deliver a set of sharply observed sketches punctuated by stabbing staccato guitar. Cynical and sneering, but never overly abrasive, the songs on All Mod Cons mainly adhere to the classic rudiments of short and sweet songwriting. Weller showcases his increasingly assured touch with the occasional wistful ballad and by reaching into the soul copybook to embellish "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight", harbingers of subsequent Jam albums. --Ben Clancy
