Graham Parker Starts A Fire Again

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 23, 2005 2:42PM

When is a look back also a step forward? When an artist taps into the verve of his earlier work and uses it to re-assert his relevance almost thirty years after his debut. And so it is with the recent Graham Parker album Songs of No Consequence.

At no point in his career would Parker have ever been called content. For the first few years of his career, he fought to break out of the shadow of fellow pub rockers Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello before finally hitting his stride (and his peak) with Squeezing Out Sparks. Unfortunately, Parker would spend the rest of his career trying to live up to this achievement.

Between 1992 and 2004, Parker released only two recordings that weren’t of the live or compilation variety. But last year he began recording for local label Bloodshot Records. This move, along with the decision to step into a studio with longtime live backing band The Figgs, has resulted in an album that recalls Parker’s glory days with The Rumour and gives him some sorely needed momentum.

Parker’s biting wit proves a man is at his most dangerous when he’s got nothing to lose; no one is better at treading the line between dirty old man and wise old fart. He's got plenty to say--even about easy targets like the media (“Vanity Press”) and disposable radio popsters (“There’s Nothing On the Radio”). For a guy, Parker has always had a remarkable grasp of a woman’s view of male-female relationships. The cautionary tale he tells on “She Swallows It” belies the tune’s distracting title (his inner 14 year old strikes again with “Suck ‘N’ Blow”). And any future “best of” compilations from GP should be considered inessential without the inclusion of the album’s most satisfying moment: “Bad Chardonnay.”

Parker’s sense of irony is as strong as it’s ever been; with Songs of No Consequence, he’s created his most vital work of the last ten years.

Graham Parker plays Double Door this Friday night at 9 PM with The Figgs. Tickets are $20. Click here to preview tracks from Songs of No Consequence.