They sure don't make 'em like Nick Lowe anymore. After years as the frontman of struggling pub rockers Brinsley Schwarz came to nothing, Lowe joined fledgling Stiff Records and became a sort of big brother to the punk movement-producing debuts by The Damned, Elvis Costello, Graham Parker and the Rumour, among others. Amidst all this activity, Lowe recorded his first solo album, a delicious piece of disposable pop junk food entitled Jesus of Cool that has been difficult to find before Yep Roc's deluxe reissue.
The "dinosaur bands" dominating the charts were recording albums had tried to achieve lasting significance with smooth, timeless production, while the punk movement abandoned any idea of lasting significance in favor of pinpointing time and place to achieve significance for the here and now. With Jesus of Cool, however, Lowe eschewed any attempts at constructs like "significance" or "originality," surprisingly resulting in an album every bit as fun and satisfying now as it was in '78. Unamused by the cheeky title, his American record label shuffled the track listing and changed the album's name, British Invasion style. Usually termed as power-pop by default, Lowe's music is much more than that. In fact, the American title Pure Pop For Now People is actually a fairly accurate depiction of how it sounds, a gleeful mix of old time rock, a few lush ballads, punk pisstakes, and a hint of disco. The new reissue contains every track from the multiple versions of the LP, plus a hearty helping of outtakes and contemporary singles that could easily have made the cut. Lowe's singing and lyrics convey the enthusiasm of a musician within months of his 30th birthday finally getting his due. The rough "So It Goes" travels from tales of willfully violent gigs ("you better keep your backstage passes / as your promoter has the muscle") to comments on Soviet-U.S. relations in the giddy blur of its 3 minutes while "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass" is Lowe's psychological exploration into the hotel destroying motives of rock stars, with a great four on the floor beat and nimble piano commenting on the proceedings. "Marie Provost" is another highlight, a rollicking tune about "a winner / who became a doggie's dinner" (if you want to know more, look up the song's subject, silent film actress Marie Prevost). Much like the cover, in which he dresses as different rock star archetypes, Lowe is comfortable and tuneful in his many guises. He would score a U.S. hit a few years later and become a millionaire when a cover of one of his songs appeared in a 17 million selling soundtrack-but Jesus of Cool is his finest hour, and with a fine new edition there's no better time to hear it.
5/5
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