Though Rockpile managed only one, nigh-perfect album at the height of the '80s new wave boom, its members--Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Billy Bremner, and Terry Williams--had played together in various incarnations, in some instances for over a decade: Edmunds and drummer Williams had been in the '60s power trio Love Sculpture; all had played on Lowe's '78 album Jesus of Cool and Edmunds's '79 collection Repeat When Necessary. But Seconds of Pleasure became their most complete and satisfying pop statement--if their ironic swan song, as well. This newly remastered collection features the complete original album, as informed and vibrant a tribute to American rockabilly and R&B roots (with an amped-up take of Joe Tex's "If Sugar Was as Sweet as You" and inviting reworkings of Gene Chandler's "Teacher Teacher" and Chuck Berry's obscure "Oh What a Thrill") as any contemporary group has ever managed--especially considering three quarters of the material is either Rockpile originals or contemporary compositions, like "Wrong Again" by Squeeze songwriters/mainstays Difford and Tilbrook. The generous slate of bonus tracks features all four acoustic, live-in-the studio tracks from the Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds Sing the Everly Brothers tribute EP distributed with initial pressings of the LP; two fine live BBC recordings from '77; a cover of Graham Parker's "Back to Schooldays"; a band original, "They Called It Rock"; and a blistering live rendition of Parker's "Crawling from the Wreckage" from one of the band's last appearances together at the Concert for Kampuchea. Though Lowe may now downplay them as "a posh bar band" who "specialized in playing Chuck Berry music four times faster than anyone else," Rockpile was truly one of the great rock bands of their--or any--era. --Jerry McCulley
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