Seconds of Pleasure

Considered a cult record, Seconds of Pleasure is really just a great album with tasteful production that’s aged incredibly well. England’s Rockpile was a touring pub-rock supergroup fronted by Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds. Every song here is memorably catchy and good — the band shared a collective enthusiasm for traditional rock ‘n’ roll, but on the Lowe-fronted moments they played with an almost punkish recklessness, while Edmunds sang songs sounding like the clean, vacuum-tight power pop of the era. They open with Eddie Phillips and Kenny Picket of the Creation’s “Teacher Teacher” – it’s chiming classic guitar pop that’s nearly as perfect as a Kinks hit. And giving a Grease Band-influenced boogie to Chuck Berry’s lesser known “Oh What a Thrill” shows that Rockpile are musicians' musicians. Of course their own songs are just as impressive. Lowe imports Brinsley Schwarz’s “Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)” with more chemistry here, and the band’s “Fool Too Long” plays like a tougher Everly Brothers. The bonus version of Seconds of Pleasure comes with three live songs that prove Rockpile were a much greater force to be reckoned with in person.