Sunday, April 20, 2008
A+E, Music, Reviews

Nick Lowe

“Jesus of Cool”  (Yep Roc)

CREDIT: Dan Burn-Forti

NICK LOWE
w/Ron Sexsmith
Tuesday, April 22
Variety Playhouse
$25                                                                                                                 
404-524-7354
www.variety-playhouse.com

Although it’s impossible to tell from his low-key, noir-styled country/soul albums of the last 15 years, Nick Lowe was once a key figure in the burgeoning punk scene. His production work on Elvis Costello’s earliest work alone qualifies him for legendary status, but his own catalog of scruffy pub rock and power-pop, starting with his work in Brinsley Schwartz and continuing with this, his solo debut from 1978, is equally as vital, if not nearly as commercially successful.
  
Whether under the U.S. title of “Pure Pop for Now People” or the more edgy British title to which it now returns, American CD buyers nearly missed the chance to experience “Jesus of Cool,” since it was only available for a short while two decades ago. Lowe’s current label returns this forgotten classic to print, adding 10 associated singles, B-sides and alternate selections that make this the definitive release.
   
Lowe’s six different character poses on the cover indicate the diverse musical styles inside. From the dreamy, driving psychedelia of “36 Inches High” to the punchy rock of “So it Goes,” the lyrically twisted retro-pop of “Marie Provost” and the tropicalia of “Nutted by Reality,” this is a rich and always surprising set that crackles with Lowe’s irrepressible creativity, dry wit and sly humor.
 
The extra tracks—some were U.S. substitutions on the original British sequencing—are nearly as good, with the smirking, self-deprecating humor of “I Love My Label” and “They Called it Rock” just as timely today as when they were written. 4 STARS—Hal Horowitz