Paul Weller has great hair. And he's had great hair for quite a long time. In fact, the quality of his hair has, for about the last ten years, out-done the quality of his music. So when his last album, As Is Now, was heralded as some kind of return to angry, urgent form, we rejoiced. Was the man they call "Well-ah" finally releasing records that could compete with his barnet?
Possibly. But not on the evidence of this. Because while this very old-fashioned, knees-up round an old piano slice of Beatles'ey nostalgia is pleasant, it's hardly spectacular. The occasional bursts of trumpet tomfoolery and the comfortable texture his well-worn voice posesses prevents it from becoming anything nasty, but it's still just unremarkable.
Here's The Good News is a short back and sides - practical and workmanlike, but a bit dull. It really needs its fringe feathered, or some texture-creating layers chopped in, or just working over with a bit of product, anything that might give it a bit of oomph.
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