10 Perfect Power Pop Albums With No Bad Songs

If there's one band that really dominated the late '70s in Britain, it would have been the Clash. As much as other bands of their ilk may have been trying to mine the same kind of angry young man schtick, the hooks behind songs like London Calling or Rock the Casbah were both catchy and savage enough for the rest of the world to pay attention. There was only so far you could go with that uncompromising attitude, and the Jam served as a nice alternative for the Only Band That Mattered.

Though the Jam started out as a more traditional punk outfit, Sound Affects is where they really found their strengths in the pop realm, with Paul Weller coming into his own as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation. Across this album, you have a nice mix of the serious and playful side of the band, from the hooks on Pretty Green to the morbid social commentary that you get on That's Entertainment.

That's before you include the singles from around this time as well, with Going Underground sounding like what the Rolling Stones would have done had they been a part of the punk movement. Being up there with the greatest British acts of all time, you can still hear the trickle down effect from this album, with Noel Gallagher ranking them up with some of his personal favorites. Not quite in the Britpop realm, but just enough nasty attitude to please the punk faithful.