“Look Sharp!” by Joe Jackson

It’s the 45th anniversary of Joe Jackson’s sterling debut album.

Few artists infuse catch pop hooks with as much angst and frustration as Joe Jackson does on Look Sharp!, his excellent 1979 debut LP. Over the years, it’s gotten compared to Elvis Costello’s sound, particularly in its reggae influence, but that’s a surface-level juxtaposition at best. Where Costello exudes an irate intelligence, Jackson is much more scared and paranoid about the world around him. The self-deprecating humor becomes a defense mechanism that attempts to cover up a fear of loneliness and, counterintuitively, powerful physical attraction. Jackson was in his early 20s when he wrote Look Sharp! and I was around the same age when I heard it for the first time, which is one of the big reasons I suspect I found it so relatable. I understood where he was coming from on a deep level.

“Is She Really Going Out With Him?” the highest-charting single from the album, is a prime example of this dynamic in action. The song starts with a chuckle-worthy opening line (“Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street”) but quickly descends into existential crisis mode (“Is she really going out with him?/’Cause if my eyes don’t deceive me/There’s something going wrong around here”). They, not he, are the problem—or at least that’s what he’d like to tell himself. Jackson uses those same mechanics to offer similar armchair expert takedowns on “Fools in Love” and “One More Time.” He even turns that critical lens on himself in “Don’t Ask Me,” a remarkably self-aware piece of work.

“A lot of the tracks are first takes and there are no overdubs,” said Jackson in 1979. “[We] wanted a bit more live band sort of sound. In retrospect, you always feel there’s something you can improve on. Next time ’round we’ll feature the guitar a bit more.” Despite Jackson’s dismissive tone, this record still sounds as energetic and fiery as ever.