Nick Lowe – The Impossible Bird (1994)

Another recent boot fair purchase was Nick Lowe's collection, The Brentford Trilogy, (a bargain if you follow the link!) a 2009 release which brings together Lowe's 1990s trilogy of albums, Dig My Mood, The Convincer, and this album, the earliest of the three. Despite already owning two of these albums (and having already reviewed them), it was still fantastic value to get the third and replace the other two with new copies.

Like the two albums which followed, it's a collection of short, simple gentle pop songs, some with more impact than others. There are a couple of greats - The Best In Me, later recorded by Johnny Cash, 12 Step Program, a more upbeat country rock number, and I Live On A Battlefield, a trademark lovesick Lowe number. And while there's nothing here that isn't a decent listen (well, Lover Don't Go is a bit of a dirge) the Lowe classics are thin on the ground. There's a bright ending in I'll Be There, but I can't help feeling that this is a taster of some much better stuff to come over the next couple of decades, as Basher becomes the respected and much-loved crooner/songwriter he is today.

Link to full album

3*- the early efforts of the 'more matur' Nick Lowe, are certainly worth a listen, but it's a work in progress.