Nick Lowe

After ending a seven-album association with CBS that was artistically if not commercially
fruitful, Nick Lowe is revving his engines for a new start on Reprise. Party of One falls more
on the blues-rock than the power-pop side of the ledger, and for good reason: Lowe has
reunited with Dave Edmunds, his erstwhile partner in Rockpile, who has always been a
roots champion. While the album isn't all serious business, the commitment of Lo... More >

The latest old fart to slip into limbo and come back to play another day, Nick the Knife is a writer again, every song honed and there for a reason. With the likes of Ry Cooder and Jim Keltner spiking his wry cool, he yearns for yen, makes Boeing a modest proposal, spins off pungent epithets ("Refrigerator White"), nonsense syllables ("Shting-Shtang"), sexual metaphors ("Honeygun"). In a shameless bid for the rockcrit vote, he also finds the perfect rhyme for "ghastly" (starts with "Rick," lest you already forgot). And just like with Labour of Lust in 1979, he makes it sound so easy you expect a reprise a year for the rest of his life. (Grade: A-)