Just when the first-generation British Invasion bands galloped ahead into pop art in 1966,
the Small Faces worked a heavy R&B groove on their 1966 debut. That's not to say that this pack of four sharp-suited mods were unaware of the times. If anything, no other British band of the mid-'60s was so keenly tuned into fashion, the four
Small Faces capturing the style and sound of dancing pilled-up mods better even than
the Who, possibly because the group could carry a groove better than
the Who, as this tightly propulsive debut amply illustrates. Like many '60s debuts,
The Small Faces is split between covers, songs the label pushed on the band, and originals, some clearly interpolations of songs they'd been covering in clubs. "Come on Children" echoes
James Brown's "Think," and "You Need Loving" is based on
Willie Dixon's "You Need Love." Later,
Led Zeppelin would rework
the Small Faces' "You Need Loving" into "Whole Lotta Love," and while it's easy to hear how
Steve Marriott's raw-throated howl influenced
Robert Plant as much as
Marriott's heavy shards of guitar influenced
Jimmy Page, what's striking about
The Small Faces is that there is very little blues or rock & roll here: it's all hard-charging, driving R&B and soul, the emphasis all on the groove. By stressing the beat,
the Small Faces carry themselves over some slight songwriting -- the band's energetic interplay carries them over the rough spots between "It's Too Late," "What'Cha Gonna Do About It," and "Sha La La La Lee," and that concentration even pushes them into trailblazing territory, as on the lean, ominous pulse of "E Too D." Such moments keep
The Small Faces sounding fearless and fresh even when by other respects it is very much a record of its time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine