Just bought the re-released, special 30th anniversary edition of the album today at Clive's. And it is truly a fantastic array of deliberately derivative, scabrously witty pop perfection, full of comments on the music industry and munching-of-the-hand-that-feeds. It makes the Arctic Monkeys sound like slavish lackeys of The Man, but then this came out of the Jake Riviera/Costello/Dave Edmunds/Dury stable, where Lowe's sleevenote avowal that he was 'more interested in making mischief' rang universally true. There's almost a second album of b-sides and outtakes including the sneering I Love My Label and the brilliant They Called It Rock (Dave Edmunds' title for Shake and Pop, and MUCH better in the Rockpile version.
One warning for the easily offended religious in your life: the new version comes in a mind-blowingly blasphemous sleeve that folds out into a giant crucifix. I was going to say that these days, no-one would dare. But someone did.
Meanwhile, surfing Google Images for 'Jesus of Cool' I found the fridge magnet below...
1 comment:
Scabrously witty?
Had to look that one up.
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