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4.0 out of 5 stars
Pub rock legends 3rd and 5th LPs, August 8, 2005
This review is from: Silver Pistol/Please Don't Ever Change (Audio CD)
Having survived their legendary promotional disaster at the Fillmore East, the band regrouped, moved into a communal house, and took up weekly residency at The Tally Ho pub. Their third album, 1972's "Silver Pistol" clearly reflects all of these changes, and shows the band developing a more organic blend of country, rock and blues. Recorded at their home, it's both tightened by their daily interaction as housemates, and relaxed by the lack of a studio clock ticking away their funds. The Brinsleys desire to be The Band is still heavily evident in the country-soul inflections of their arrangements (most notably on the title track), but Nick Lowe's lyrical voice was growing in originality, including the lovely waltz "Nightingale" and the twangy "The Last Time I Was Fooled." Ian Gomm added a few fine songs to the band's canon, including the opening country waltz "Dry Land," the organ soul "One More Day," and the surf-tinged instrumental "Rockin' Chair."
The second half of BGO's two-fer is the band's fifth LP, 1973's "Please Don't Ever Change." In between these two albums, the Brinsley's released their definitive "pub rock" effort (1972's "Nervous on the Road"), and this latter album shows them reaching out to new ground, including ska and reggae. The result is a more scattered, neither as organically homogenous as "Silver Pistol," nor as singularly forceful and original as "Nervous on the Road." There are some great songs here, including Gomm's soulful opener "Hooked on Love," Lowe's bouncy ska "Why Do We Hurt the One We Love" and Lieber-Stoller-styled "Down in Mexico," and a sweet (though perhaps tongue-in-cheek) take of Goffin and King's "Don't Ever Change." A live recording of Ronnie Self's "Home in My Hand" (which appeared in studio version on the "Nervous on the Road" LP) gives a glimpse of what the Brinsley's sounded like after a pint or two.
Both albums offer songs that would remain with the members of Brinsley Schwarz for years to come. American songwriter Jim Ford's "Ju Ju Man" would become a staple for Nick Lowe and Rockpile, as would Lowe's own "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)," while Gomm would reprise "Hooked on Love" for his solo album "Summer Holiday." Much of the rest would live in unearned obscurity, cured (with the aid of Alan Robinson's lengthy, informative liner notes) by this terrific two-on-one release. [©2005 hyperbolium dot com]
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