A warm evening in early Summertime is made for the debut solo album from Mr Paul Weller. I remember buying the album back when it was released in 92 and being blow away by the whole feel of the record. I was a huge fan of both The Jam and The Style Council and missed the vibe of creativity when the latter disintegrated. I never got into the arguments about the merits of each band, they were a continuation of the same vibe, as far as I was concerned, if you didn't "get" one, you didn't "get" the other. From the first chords of In The City, it was a start of a musical journey that took you to places where the kids knew where it was at, where your mind went blank in the humid sunshine, where you could sit and reflect on your ever changing moods. It was about optimism, creativity, positivity. And the perfect wardrobe. Of course.
All that was there in abundance on the first solo record. I loved the jazz funk post-Style Council elements that fused perfectly with the moves towards a bluesy, guitar-based sound that would emerge in a year or two. There's the laid back feel of Above The Clouds, the going back too your roots of Uh Oh Oh Yeah, the childhood memories of Amongst Butterflies, the late night midsummer stillness of Remember How We Started, the guitar that ends Bitterness Rising, the heartfelt anticipation of Clues, the perfect, out there, ascent into magical, heavenly vibes of Kosmos.
It sings of afternoons in laid back sunshine, just enough alcohol to enhance the moment, filled with optimism and belief and a deep soulful touch, What's Going On meets the funkier edges of Small Faces' instrumentals, perhaps, with a little Stevie Winwood thrown into the mix and a shade of psychedelia of different varieties in there as well.
Then there's the harder edge of Into Tomorrow, as near perfect a modernist classic as you could find. And it was all conceived and put together in the period when The Style Council had gone and he was on the verge of being forgotten.
As Noel Gallagher commented on the cover photo - "does he look like a man who's washed up?".
This album started one of the great trilogies of music. Paul Weller/Wildwood/Stanley Road is up there with certain other runs of perfect albums from the sixties onwards. In some ways its my favourite of his albums. And that covers all his incarnations.
For now, I'll pour another beer, enjoy the sunshine and listen to the grooves of this record as they float across the evening. Its what life is all about.