Released in 1973 as Brinsley Schwarz was busy touring and recording the follow-up to Nervous on the Road, Please Don't Ever Change is a collection of singles, live cuts, and radio sessions from the early '70s. The odds-and-sods nature of the record actually works in its favor, since it accentuates the group's ramshackle nature. Sure, there's a fair amount of filler on the record -- their ill-advised reggae excursion "The Version (Hypocrite)" is simply mystifying -- but unevenness was part of the Brinsleys' charm, and the ...
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Released in 1973 as Brinsley Schwarz was busy touring and recording the follow-up to Nervous on the Road, Please Don't Ever Change is a collection of singles, live cuts, and radio sessions from the early '70s. The odds-and-sods nature of the record actually works in its favor, since it accentuates the group's ramshackle nature. Sure, there's a fair amount of filler on the record -- their ill-advised reggae excursion "The Version (Hypocrite)" is simply mystifying -- but unevenness was part of the Brinsleys' charm, and the simply enjoyable cuts make the best tracks feel like classics. And some of them are definitive Brinsley cuts. "I Worry ('Bout You Baby)" is a revamped R&B number, the live "Home in My Hand" speeds along with a relentless energy, the cover of Goffin/King's "Don't Ever Change" indicates Nick Lowe's latent pop roots, "Down in Mexico" is a hysterical travelogue, and "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)" is among the classic pub rock singles, distilling the essence of pub rock into one piledriving song. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
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