When Paul Weller enters the studio in March 1977 with Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler, he is only 17! A few months later, the result of these sessions explodes in England’s mouth. In The City, the Jam’s first album, is then a true hit to the face. With this first brutal, short, urgent and uncompromising first attempt, Weller puts though a punk rock mill his veneration for the Who, the Small Faces, Motown, the 60s soul (the Jam covers Larry Williams’ Slow Down) and everything that constituted the soundtrack of the Mod movement from the 60s and the 70s. The young badass is above all a gifted portraitist of his native England, of his more than disillusioned youth and of the daily gloominess. He’s an heir of Ray Davies in the making! But also the voice of his generation. Through riffs by Rickenbacker (the shadow of the idol Pete Townshend from the Who is watching), the revolt In The City is an impressive introduction, rough around the edges and masterfully efficient. As soon as this first disc, the Jam completes the Holy Trinity of punk revolt alongside the Sex Pistols and the Clash. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz