Review: Miles Davis - Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition

CD Reviews

Nick Lowe: Jesus of Cool

Yep Roc

By JEFF TAMARKIN | February 12, 2008

4.0 Stars

Nick Lowe recently recalled that the upstart punk bands he produced for Stiff Records in the late ’70s often referred to him as Grandpa — Lowe, after all, was 26 at the time. But it was his experience — he’d put in several years with the roots-revering pub-rock band Brinsley Schwarz — that enabled those newbies to harness their essence on vinyl, and that same experience that made Lowe’s 1978 Jesus of Cool (released in the US under the less-Bible-thumper-baiting title Pure Pop for Now People) one of the great debuts of the era. Lowe was not a punk, but he understood the appeal of melodic, stripped-down rock and the power of the three-minute single. Of course, there was little chance that songs sporting lines like “She was a winner who became the doggie’s dinner” (“Marie Provost”) or “I remember the night the kid cut off his right arm” (“So It Goes”) would find much traction on the charts, at least in America. But Lowe’s sizzling, neo-retro anthems, among them the breakneck “Heart of the City” and the reggae-paced, quasi-quirky “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass,” endeared him to those very same punks and a more generalist audience that would continue to embrace him — especially once he teamed with the like-minded guitarist Dave Edmunds in Rockpile — for several more years. The reissue tacks on 10 additional tracks, making this expanded edition the final word on Jesus of Cool.

Related: Lowe life, Nick Lowe, Boston music news: February 22, 2008, More

Topics: CD Reviews , Nick Lowe, Nick Lowe, Brinsley Schwarz, More

Comments

Add a Comment

view all

[ 12/02 ] Harvard Yiddish Operetta @ Agassiz Theater

[ 12/02 ] Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph Von Dohnányi [Open Rehearsal] @ Symphony Hall

[ 12/02 ] Sugar @ Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun

[ 12/02 ] Lady Gaga + Kid Cudi + Semi Precious Weapons @ Wang Theatre

[ 12/02 ] Legends In Concert @ Fox Theatre @ Foxwoods

ARTICLES BY JEFF TAMARKIN

TOM WAITS | GLITTER AND DOOM LIVE | November 17, 2009
Arriving five years after his last release of new material, and two after the three-disc Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards box of outtakes and oddities, this live set culled from assorted 2008 gigs could be seen as a time marker.

ROSANNE CASH | THE LIST | September 28, 2009
In 1973, when she was an 18-year-old rock fan, Rosanne Cash's dad gave her a list of songs he felt she should know — mostly country, all falling under the current banner Americana. She held onto that list, and now she's recorded a dozen tunes from it.

REVIEW: BEBEL GILBERTO | ALL IN ONE | September 24, 2009
There couldn’t be a more apropos title than the one Bebel Gilberto has given her fourth album.

GEORGE THOROGOOD | THE DIRTY DOZEN | July 22, 2009
Before you press PLAY, you know what you're going to get on The Dirty Dozen : music to drink lots of beer by.

SON VOLT | AMERICAN CENTRAL DUST | July 15, 2009
With American Central Dust , Jay Farrar has now accomplished something he was unable to do either during Son Volt's initial run (1995-99) or his evidently aborted solo career (2001-04): released three consecutive albums of undeniable quality.

See all articles by: JEFF TAMARKIN

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

CAPUANO FOR SENATE
After a telescoped campaign, Massachusetts Democrats go to the polls Tuesday to choose a successor to a legend, Ted Kennedy.

THE BIG HURT: FACES REFACED
Faces refaced, Spears speared, Hook hacked

PHOTOS: GROSS THANKSGIVING FOOD TO AVOID
Thanksgiving is a time for gorging on food and hanging out with family, but really it's mostly about the food. There are some dishes that take it too far, however, and we are here to help you steer clear of those.

GREG EPSTEIN, ATHEIST SUPERSTAR
Once an intellectual taboo, atheism has become one of the great growth industries of the third millennium.

PHOTOS: PIXIES AT THE WANG THEATRE
Photos from the Pixies' Boston stop on their tour to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of Doolittle .

THE X FACTOR
Martha Coakley should be plenty thankful for the holiday weekend. The polls suggest that, if nothing significant changes between now and the December 8 primary, she should handily claim the Democratic nomination for US Senate.

WHALIN' ON PALIN
Give Sarah Palin this: she isn’t driven by polls. If she wanted to improve her chances at political success, she would have used her book and promotional tour to convince America that she has substance and gravitas .

INTERVIEW: GABOUREY SIDIBE
"While reading the book, I realized that I knew this girl in so many different people. Not just girls but boys, and not just black people but white and Asian and Indian."