Written 30 years ago (for Christ’s sake!) “Art School” by The Jam, is a blistering example of guitar oriented pop and/or rock.

In their time, The Jam were given the label “mod,” an overarching term, involving both music and fashion, that seems to capture a strain of English 60s pop (The Who, The Kinks, The Beatles, etc.) directly influenced by black rhythm and blues artists from the U.S. This influence can certainly be heard in their music, but with their tendency to write fast, catchy tunes that clock in under two and a half minuets, there is a definite punk sensibility found in The Jam’s music.

In essence, “Art School,” off The Jam’s 1977 debut In The City, is, at two minuets and two seconds, essentially a punk rock song. Fast and rough with one guitar, bass and drums, it can certainly be counted as such. At the same time however, there is a certain sophistication in the playing creeping around the edges that makes one realize that this ain’t no Sex Pistols tune. Providing more of a trebly texture, the guitar takes a back seat to the rhythm section where drums and bass are allowed to carry the song through its fast and easily danceable shuffle.

Even though “Art School” is roughhewn in style and production, guitarist and songwriter, Paul Weller, bassist, Bruce Foxton and drummer, Rick Buckler, while no more creative or artistically committed, show a musical acumen that far surpasses that of their peers.

As for the lyrics, they are filled with the self-righteous indignation that characterize Paul Weller’s song writing during his time with The Jam: “And never worry if people laugh at you/The fools only laugh ’cos they envy you.” But mostly, “Art School” sounds like a call to action directed at the youth of England in 1977; however, that same revolutionary fervour can be carried over to today in language anyone who is tired of mainstream culture can understand. Weller sings in a pronounced English accent, “Who makes the rules that make people select/Who is to judge that your ways are correct/The media as watchdog is absolute shit/The T.V. telling you what to think.”

In keeping with the punk rock ethos of independence – in thought as well as artistic expression – art school, rather than a location, becomes for Weller both a state of mind and a metaphor for individuality. When he sings, “do whatcha want ‘cos this is the new art school,” he seems to be excising art school from its local geography and placing it in the consciousness of the listener where he or she can use it for inspiration for individual creativity.

Pretty good for a two-minuet pop and/or rock (or is that punk?) song.