Cynics would have pooh-poohed the notion a few years ago, but the Modfather’s influence has been growing ever stronger. Once ridiculed for exchanging the anger of The Jam for the slick pop of The Style Council, Weller has by now more than earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants musically.
More Modern Classics collects Weller’s post-1998 output and, over three discs, picks up where the original Modern Classics left off. It brilliantly displays the dazzling variety of his oeuvre, from psychedelic rock with Noel Gallagher on ‘Echoes Rounds The Sun’ to a beguiling collaboration with Kevin Shields, ‘7 + 3 is the Striker’s Name’.
Unfairly cartooned as a Luddite, the truth is that it has been increasingly difficult to predict what Weller might next have up his sleeve. On the 2010 single ‘Wake Up The Nation’, he channelled the sneering fury of classic Jam, snarling “Get your face out of Facebook and hang up the phone.”
However, it’s sure a little on the parsimonious side to only offer just one new track, ‘Brand New Toy’. After all, Paul’s hardcore fanbase will already have everything else here. More Modern Classics is nevertheless a timely overview of the Modfather’s recent output and is recommended for newcomers. A few more spanking new classics would have been the icing.