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Ian Dury: 'New Boots and Panties!!' (Stiff). This is not punk rock. Dury is a pub rock survivor, as tough and homely as a dande-lion, as English as music halls, billingsgate, and Gene Vincent. The tenacious wit and ac-curacy of his lyrics betray how uncommon he believes his blockheaded protagonists really are, and his music rocks out in the traditional blues-based grooves without kissing the past's ass. Tender, furious, sexy, eccentric, surprising.
A MINUS.
Nick Lowe: 'Pure Pop for Now People' (Columbia). This is not punk rock. It's an amazing pop tour-de-force demonstrating that if the music is cute enough the words can be any old non-cliche. Lowe's people cut off their right arms, castrate Castro, love the sound of breaking glass, roam with alligators in the heart of the city, and go to see the Bay City Rollers. But because the hooks cascade so deftly from sources as diverse as the Beach Boys and the Boomtown Rats, I care about every one of them. As for Lowe, this Inspira-tional Verse: "She was a winner/Who be-came a doggie's dinner/She never meant that much to me."
A.
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