I became a fan of Mr. Weller when the Style Council introduced themselves (get it?) in 1983...
Little did I know that he had just broken up his previous group, The Jam (arguably Britain's most famous punk band), to do this style of music. I had an aversion to all things "punk" in those days and couldn't believe such a directional shift was possible, but it happened, it was good, and I developed a respect for the man who would throw away a very lucrative career at the age of 23 to play the music he had in his head.
Style Council lasted the remainder of the 80's and then Weller went solo...
...but has never ceased changing it up musically over the twenty years since. Now 53, he's still as viable today as ever, and I can safely say I will anxiously await subsequent releases. "Sonik Kicks" is his eleventh studio album and first to ever crack the Billboard Top 200, if my research is correct. I find that incredibly difficult to believe because he has issued better records than this one, but not by much.
SK opens with the anticipated curveball on the first pitch, a synth-heavy, spacey/punky/futuristic psychedelic sound that amazes in the "where did that come from" category. From there Mr. Chameleon morphs through soul, rock, ballads, punk, goth-y new wave, doo-wop, and British reggae. Be sure to play that link and then check out this video for the track that's getting him press in Japan...
Same guy, same album. Those two tracks are sequenced in that order midway through. Told you he was a musical chameleon.
The Deluxe version I obtained was music only, not the one with the DVD second disc. The two additional tracks are worth owning. "Starlite" should be a dancefloor classic, not in a 900 bpm dance style but in a subtle, sexy manner. It's ripe for a remix and/or extended version.
"Sonik Kicks" will need a couple of spins to grow on you. Hell, it's taken twenty years for Weller to educate Americans to his intellectual aural fashion. I always said he was too smart for us...
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