I've been on a bit of a Nick Lowe kick lately thanks to the release of his great new disc, At My Age (more on that coming soon, I'm sure). That led me to seek out live recordings, which led to the discover of a great 1982 show co-headlined by Lowe and Paul Carrack. The two lead a band of frequent collaborators, trading off lead vocals as each highlights songs from their respective recent albums. While I'm convinced Lowe is one of the most under-appreciated singer-songwriters of the past 30 years, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Carrack stand toe-to-toe with the Jesus of Cool.

That, finally getting to the point, let me to pull out my old copy of Carrack's solo disc, Suburban Voodoo. Though it was just the second disc under his name, he was no newcomer. He fronted the pub rock band Ace, penning and singing one of the few hits from that movement, "How Long." He later joined Squeeze, offering lead vocals on that group's biggest hit, "Tempted." I didn't know until doing a little research for this post that he also did time in Roxy Music.

I'm not sure how that last little bit fits into his career, but everything else is of a piece. Carrack is the quintessential pub rocker, his music a smart mix of vintage rock and soul with a little country flavoring in spots. He has found the most success when he or those he works with have used his pipes to full effectiveness, harnessing his soulful croon in the pursuit of organic pop bliss. He falters when things get too slick and syrupy. No worry here with Lowe in the producer's chair -- they don't call him Basher for nothing. He keeps things lean and mean on Suburban Voodoo, creating a slightly more radio-friendly, R'n'B flavored version of the kinds of albums he himself was releasing at the time (Labour of Lust, The Abominable Showman) that leans heavily on the standard guitar-bass-drums-keyboards setup.

Carrack contributes a few compositions to the album, as does Lowe, while his old bosses in Squeeze, Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook, penned the very Squeeze-sounding "Out of Touch." At its best the disc captures a perfect blend between Carrack's sweet vocals and his band's pub-ready groove. "Lesson in Love" and "I'm in Love" are both winners (not to be confused with the closer "I Found Love"), while "I Need You" was a deserved Top 40 hit that approximated the tempo and feel of Squeeze's "Tempted."

The singer went on to see his greatest success with the supergroup of sorts Mike + the Mechanics led by Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford. The group's first hit, "Silent Running," is really the only among its radio tracks that bears listening two decades later, Carrack's impassioned vocal able to overcome the dated electronic instrumentation. He continues to release solo albums, though he does so with limited success (stateside anyway). He has a self-released greatest hits disc where track 7 of 20 is the last big hit he had here, Mike +the Mechanics' "Living Years," so somebody must still be buying his records (or he's very loosely adhering to the definition of a hit).

If I had unlimited resources, I'd try to pull a Rick Rubin/Joe Henry sort of thing and put Carrack back in the studio with the Suburban Voodoo band (or any pub rock/Rockpile-related combo), a batch of great songs from folks like Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Elvis Costello and Carrack himself, and see what we could do. The guy has always seemed on the cusp of doing something great, and until my lottery number comes up, Suburban Voodoo is likely to be the closest he'll get.

MP3: I Need You
MP3: I'm In Love

Labels: music, OOTS