Joe Jackson - Look Sharp!

I got this album from my landlord when he found out I was into records. He brought Look Sharp! over one day while doing some light repairs. I was a little put off, but he seems to know his stuff, so I put it on.

It turns out I like Joe Jackson. Who knew? You probably like him too. We've all heard Is She Really Going Out With Him? on the radio time and time again, and if your into metal you might know Anthrax's version of Got The Time, the last song on this record. Think about it, Joe Jackson was a pale englishman in a suit and tie, and of all bands, Anthrax wanted to play his music. You can imagine he probably had his shit together. The hits on this album aren't even the best part, there's some cool stuff all over this record, and Dave Houghton is nice little drummer discovery I've made because of it.

As with most New-wave drumming, Dave Houghton's playing reminds me a little of Pete Thomas on this album, but a little more focused. I find he's locked in a little more. on Happy Loving Couples he keeps his playing really minimal, the bare essentials required to keep things moving. Sunday Papers has a cool sort of swagger to it, but Houghton keeps it tight so that it never steps out of line. and Throw It Away is just a balls out rocker with a 60's psych feel to it. Houghton beats the hell out of his drums and manages to nail the stop before the chorus as tight as ever.

Houghton's drumming is a prefect example of a melding of the very precise 50s style rock drumming and the more bombastic style of the early 70s. Baby Stick Around or Pretty Girls could have easily come from Buddy Holly without really changing anything but the volume of the playing.

Houghton really shows his stuff during a break in the title track Look Sharp! He gets about 8 bars of a solo in over a unaccompanied staccato piano line, and it's a brief glimpse of his speed and technique.

Dave left Joe Jackson's band in 1980 but eventually returned years later and has been with Joe ever since. If you get the chance to see him play some of these song, take it. His minimalist approach to rock drumming is rarely seen in finer form than on some of these songs.