He is the Dapper Don, the man whose majestic career has spanned three decades, from The Jam to The Style Council and his rebirth in the 1990s as the aptly named Modfather. A song writing auteur whose beneficent patronage was crucial in the shaping of the Britpop sound, the Brothers Gallagher being only the most high-profile of Weller’s Made Men.
A double-live album, Catch-Flame! is primarily a chronicle of these latter solo years. Recorded at London’s Alexandra Palace in December 2005, the track listing will be familiar to those who attended Weller’s Olympia shows that year. Drawing heavily on the seminal Wild Wood and Stanley Road albums, and the unfettered soulboy fever of 2005 return to form As Is Now, Weller has here assembled a crowd-pleasing 23 track retrospective.
‘From The Floorboards Up’ struts with a hitherto hidden vigour, ‘Savages’ is exquisite, the bespoke guitar creating a shimmering ambience. A staple of the Weller live set, ‘In The Crowd’ is given a prolonged, ecstatic workout, sounding as fresh and vital as it did in the All Mod Cons heyday of 1978. ‘That’s Entertainment’ stomps its authority, and then the delirious reverie of ‘A Town Called Malice’ provides an indecently exciting denouement.