THE JAM’S JAM
Or, How To Not Break In America (Because You Don’t Want To)
On a damp, dank Sunday lunchtime the three pasty-faced, unhealthy-looking members of the Jam sit in an uncomfortably functional room in a nondescript London hotel close to Oxford Circus, and consider their new album, Sound Affects.
On this latest long-player, the simplicity and directness of which is epitomized by the melodic minimalism of the "Start" single already lifted from it, guitarist Paul Weller, bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler have once again worked with producer Vic Coppersmith, who by now appears a major force in the establishing of the busy, bleak sometimes violent sounds of the Jam: for the next time the group record, though, says Foxton, they are searching for an 8-track studio, in which they may well produce themselves.
I Just get the impression that the majority of Americans Just want to be entertained... —Paul Weller
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Recorded at London's Town Rouse in brief bursts of studio activity in between tour dates, this fifth Jam LP took three months in all to make—Setting Sons, their last album, only took two.