Paul Weller and Graham Coxon – This Old Town (Regal)

Old Modfather meets newish Modcousin in mutual arse-crack licking contest? How’s that for cynical music fan, Mr Press Release Writer. Actually, I’m not that cynical; I think everything’s great, apart from the stuff that isn’t. So why the abrasive comment? Meh, there’s a new series of X Factor starting, Big Brother still sits in the C4 schedules like a malignant media tumour and it’s still at least a month ‘til iLiKETRAiNS release their debut album. This single’s not that bad, though, so excuse my moodiness.

Okay, it’s hardly reinventing the wheel. Take a good-time rock and roll riff lifted from the Faces (the original Mods?), filter it through the Wildhearts and coalesce it into a form that is neither The Jam or Blur. The sound is pure, undiluted guitars, drums and bass; a snatch of orchestration rears it’s head like a turd in an ornamental pond, but it is soon removed and disposed of. And curiously enough it is not Weller’s distinctive vocals that lead the song but Graham Coxon’s haphazard and homely tones. In fact, Paul only comes in to lend support on the chorus. As a song it kicks along nicely, ends on a drumble and simply entertains with it’s presence. Like a bacon sandwich made with decent bacon and bread, this a crude but satisfying collaboration, and with hardly any rimming at all.