He broke through a few years later than Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. Yet Joe Jackson is considered a full member of the so-called 'angry young men' of British rock. As can be heard on his debut album, Jackson was at home in more markets than Parker and (the early) Costello. He was also one step ahead of them in the field of harmonic ingenuity, although he did his best not to show it too much
… in the beginning. The basic bass-guitar-drums band that accompanied him on his first three albums was in line with punk, although Jackson was clearly more part of the burgeoning new wave movement, linking the energy of punk with smart, catchy. pop song structures. In keeping with the spirit of the times, he is irritated about almost everything: the Sunday paper (Sunday Papers), are libido (Pretty Girls) and muzak (Instant Mash). Fortunately, that anger and irritations are always put on infectious melodies and rhythms. Jackson moves with apparent ease from sneering punk (Got The Time) to reggae (Fools In Love) to the 60's-ish pop of his first monster hit Is She Really Going Out With Him?more
