Last Chance To Learn the Twist

Graham Parker was a latter-day figure on the British pub rock scene of the 1970s whose career got a boost when his raw, passionate vocals and often volatile, sometimes darkly witty lyrics dovetailed with the rise of the New Wave scene. His energetic attack and back-to-basics sound connected with punk-adjacent fans on albums like 1976s Howlin Wind and 1977s Stick to Me. As his career went along, Parker was happy to play up his acerbic side for his new fan base (especially on 1979s brilliant Squeezing Out Sparks) before moving into more pop-oriented but still eagerly cynical singer/songwriter territory in the 80s. Parker has been finding his way back to the rootsy pub rock sound that informed his earliest work since he reunited with his old backing band the Rumour for two albums in the 2010s, and 2023s Last Chance to Learn the Twist, his second album with his combo the Goldtops, sometimes sounds like a more relaxed and introspective variation on his approach to Howlin Wind. The biggest difference between Parker in 1976 and Parker in 2023 is that his anger is mostly a thing of the past -- he sometimes sounds irked by the stupidity of the world around him, but just as often hes laughing at the madness of the 21st century, and he sounds faintly nostalgic on bittersweet numbers like "Sun Valley" and "Shorthand," while "The Music of the Devil" fondly recalls the Good Old Days when Rock & Roll was supposed to be sending us to Hell, a quaint notion now. Parker knows how to tell a good story when one occurs to him, and his observations on the fate of Pablo Escobars pet hippos and the bugs who refuse to let you alone all summer are witty and literate. Though Parkers vocal attack is more subtle at the age of 72, the nuance of his phrasing is as strong and effective as one could hope, and the Goldtops (including former Rumour guitarist Martin Belmont and frequent Nick Lowe collaborator Geraint Watkins on keyboards) give the performances a warm naturalism and subtle, effective punch that suits Parkers melodies better than most of his albums of the 2000s. Frankly, Graham Parker sounds older and wiser on Last Chance to Learn the Twist than he did in his salad days, but he never sounds tired or worn-out -- hes a vital and tremendously gifted artist who still has the touch and makes it work in the studio. ~ Mark Deming