Along with being one of the pillars of the U.K. punk scene in the mid-'70s,
the Jam were also at the forefront of the burgeoning mod revival that swept through the nation on a wave of Vespa exhaust. When the band split up in 1982, the revival didn't die, but as the four-disc collection
Into Tomorrow: The Spirit of Mod 1983-2000 shows, it mutated and evolved in a number of different ways. Leading off with a track by the post-
Jam band
the Style Council ("A Solid Bond in Your Heart"), the set traces how different aspects of the mod sound carried on, whether it was
Tamla-inspired, horn-driven soul like
JoBoxers' "Just Got Lucky" and
Tracie's "Far from the Hurting Kind," powerful garage rock like
the Barracudas' "Next Time Around," or the
Small Faces-like heavy groove of
the Prisoners' "I Drink the Ocean." As the '80s went on, the influence spread to bands as disparate as the mod-ska group
the Untouchables, the left-wing funk group
Redskins, psychedelic indie pop collective
Biff Bang Pow!, and even the chart-topping
Fine Young Cannibals, whose "Good Thing" is a wonderful example of how the energy and excitement of the basic mod sound could be expanded into the pop arena. By the end of the second disc, and the end of the '80s, the mod sound began to split into divergent streams. On the one hand, there were bands like
the Stone Roses and
Inspiral Carpets who captured the experimental spirit of the best mod, the way it could combine genres to come up with something special. On the other, there were groups who took the jazzier elements of the style, as pioneered by people like
Georgie Fame, and started the acid jazz movement. This collection includes many of these acts, most of whom stuck closely to funky jazz grooves designed for a sophisticated club audience.
A more straightforward mod revival began to take shape in the early '90s, with
Paul Weller returning to a more guitar-driven style -- as heard on "Into Tomorrow" -- and groups like
the Buzz and
the Shadowland donning skinny ties. Some of the biggest bands of the era, like
the Charlatans and
Blur (sadly not included here), incorporated elements of mod into the songs at the dawning of the Britpop era. This celebration of nostalgia and excitement led to the formation of many bands seeking to put their own spin on a very noisy, angsty version of mod. Groups like
These Animal Men and
Mantaray played with all the amp-rattling volume of
the Who while also dashing off melodies that the kids could easily sing along with. The whole of the fourth disc shows just how widespread the influence of the mod sound became, moving from the
Small Faces-cranked-to-11 heaviness of the
Supergrass B-side "Melanie Davis" to the sunshine-y jazz pop of
Groove Tunnel's "Rainy Day," which, to go full circle, sounds like
the Style Council with a few layers of lacquer applied. The collection does a really nice job of exploring all the avenues that mod traveled down after
the Jam broke up; it's hard to think of anything they missed (other than the groups they couldn't license). It might not always be the smoothest listening experience, as not every fan of the raucous guitar bands might be into the smooth jazzbo jams and vice versa. That being said, there's still enough flow and enough pleasant surprises along the way to smooth over any huge bumps in the road, and most every broadminded fan of the mod sound will find much here to love. ~ Tim Sendra
