Kimberley Rew is one of those performers who seems to have little interest in being a frontman, but he's a great guy to have on your team, as anyone who's heard his sterling guitar work and superb pop songwriting with
the Soft Boys and
Katrina & the Waves can attest.
Great Central Revisited is only
Rew's third solo album since 1982, but what he lacks in quantity he more than compensates for with quality on this set. The album features a baker's dozen of tunes that for the most part concern life in England in a manner that sounds like two parts
Ray Davies, one part
Nick Lowe, and a dash of
Spike Milligan for flavor as he recalls opening for
Screaming Lord Sutch, the quality of British roadways,
Eddie Cochran's final tour, dating a beautiful female bass player, and poet and jazz critic Philip Larkin. If
Rew's sense of humor lacks the lysergic surrealism of his frequent collaborator
Robyn Hitchcock (who plays guitar on one track), he's better at conveying a narrative, and "Philip Larkin," "Sick of Hearing About Your Drugs," and "Purple and Orange Stripes" make it clear that not all of
the Soft Boys' quirks were
Hitchcock's doing. And
Rew's sparkling melodies, rich with hooks, are the perfect vehicle for his deft guitar work, which manages to sound both playful and technically precise at the same time.
Great Central Revisited is a top-shelf set of mature but bright-eyed British pop that proves
Rew ought to step up to center stage -- he's got the talent and the charm to carry the show quite well by his lonesome. ~ Mark Deming