sometime dissensus person Phil Blackpool wrote a pretty thorough exegesis of the Mods
here
in addition to points of reference mentioned here he also includes things like: the Beats, Terry Callier, Sex Pistols, Crass (MC does come across a bit northern Steve Ignorant), Sham 69, IAN DURY, Exploited, Happy Mondays and Petshop Boys (in the singer + underemployed looking musician model) as well as (early) the Streets and, like Mike Skinner, Wu Tang. personally it makes me think The Streets (but bitter rather than melancholy) via Wu x Ian Dury x (It's Grim Up) North x the various UK youth tribes ca. 77-85 or so x the saltiness of encroaching middle age. but yeah bit of a complicated proposition.
this is my favorite. aside from the general brilliance of sampling Road Runner's proto-motorik, he just sounds so freaking
exasperated by it all.
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