4.0 out of 5 stars
Expansive and catchy, July 26, 2007
Dave Edmunds' hi-tech spin into the eighties wasn't the departure from his classic-sounding good-times music that critics have made it out to be. It was actually an expansion -- and a catchy one at that -- of his usual rockabilly rhythms, which bounce here more sprightly than ever thanks to synthesizers and processed vocals gratis of E.L.O.'s Jeff Lynne. (Lynne's few production touches, historically overblown, appear only on two tracks, the singles "Slippin' Away" and "Information"). In retrospect, Edmunds was one of the few artists to utilize the era's relatively new music tools to actually bring a warmer touch to his sound. The retro rocker had dabbled in new wave on a previous album, "Twangin'," but then, as if recoiling in horror, he reverted to his classic rock-and-roll form for "DE7," the predecessor to "Information." Critics have faulted Edmunds for his fussiness in sticking rigidly to that fifties-sixties sound; it was finally on "Information" that Edmunds found its obvious links to eighties new wave, which celebrated his beloved classic form. "Information" benefits from this connection: most of Edmunds' songs here have a mid-tempo drive with a British-invasion feel (with the exception of "Wait," which drags things down midway through Side One). While the material isn't superior, it is catchy and memorable, befitting the album's premise, and is stocked with more originals than usual. Edmunds' newfound sound even turns the Otis Blackwell chestnut "The Shape I'm In" into a Cajun-cum-synthesizer hoedown, a combination whose unlikeliness goes unnoticed because of the tune's infectiously danceable rhythm. Even when Edmunds' melodies devolve into minimalistic riffs, his solo licks show up all the livelier, playfully circling the wiry lines like buzzing bees. Beyond this, each of Edmunds' characteric traits shows up -- high harmonies, economical guitar lines, humor and exuberance -- all of which cast in fresh light the energy and spirit Edmunds had been after in his music up to that point. It's the closest he ever came to being a Brit-invasion pop artist, even including his projects with Nick Lowe, and that's saying something. Unfortunately, on Edmunds' next album -- the much slicker "Riff Raff" -- the processed sound devolved into more of an E.L.O. approach, and though that had its charms they were best left as relics of the period. But, oh, what might have been.
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