A Brief Introduction to Mod Revival
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The Mod subculture, having suddenly and violently appeared in England during the early 60s, began to fade by the end of the same decade. The culture became fragmented, some adherents going on to become the initiators of the Skinhead culture, while others were drawn to the pyschedelic elements of the Mod Scene. By the 1970s, Mods had largely disappeared.
Like many of England's youth subcultures, Mods reemerged at the very end of the 70s and early 80s. Although the new generation were drawn to the soul, r n b, and ska/reggae of their predecessors, the new Mods were also drawn to punk, not unlike the newly re-emergent Skinheads of the same period.
Lately I have been listening to some of this Mod-era punk music, and I have mixed feelings about what I'm hearing. I'll begin with what is arguably the most famous and most important of the Mod revival bands: The Jam (pictured on the right.)
The Jam became noteworthy during the 77 period, but from the start they had a different sound and look altogether. The Jam, compared with most 77 and Oi! bands, were polished in sound and production. Their look was that of early 60s fashion, as opposed to boots and braces or leather and patches. In the City is a fantastic albu
m. The songs are catchy and have an edge, but are not aggressive like, say, the 4-skins. Their later albums have some great songs as well, although as their career progressed they made a few crappy numbers as well. Overall, the Jam are an amazing band whose sound was unique at the time, but heavily influenced the future Mod revival bands that would soon appear.
The Purple Hearts, (pictured on the left,) are another of the better-known Mod revival acts. Originally formed as a punk band under a different name, the Purple Hearts appeared around the same time the Jam were becoming famous.
Musically, the Purple Hearts' sound, as with many other revival bands, is like a less aggressive version of the Jam. That being said, their songs are catchy as hell. They tended to make music that could be described as "power-poppy", but they definitely derived their sound and attitude from punk music at large. A few really good songs make this band memorable, but one can begin to see a pattern here. As the Mod revival style of punk music became more distinct, it also became much less aggressive. The bands began to adopt a poppier sound as time went on, often to the point where it becomes difficult to listen to.
Other bands with a good sound include the Chords, who played a stripped down, dirtier kind of Mod revival, at least initially. This band went a little softer as time passed. Secret Affair is
another band that stands out from the rest. The Killermeters are an excellent Mod band, and they tended to have an affinity for the older style of Mod music. Their repertoire included r n b influenced music and 60s covers.
Today there are a number of bands all over the world who play late 70s/early 80s revival-style music. One that I have personally seen is a band out of the Bay Area called the Odd Numbers. Not bad, but not really that great either.
That about raps up my (not so) brief introduction to Mod revival. There is some great music from this time period, but beware! A great deal of really shitty, really uninspiring bands with no edge were part of the same movement. Try to listen to some of this music before you purchase anything, but know that you are missing out if you don't listen to at least of these bands!
