In the Spotlight:
 
Paul Collins Beat
Ribbon Of Gold
Get Hip (GH-1149CD)
 

Ribbon Of Gold is the finest Paul Collins release since the heyday of The Beat back in the late ’70s/early ’80s. Collins — who got his start playing in the semi-legendary Nerves with future Plimsouls frontman Peter Case and songwriter-to-the-stars Jack Lee back in the ’70s — is a true rock ’n’ roll soldier, slogging it out in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and Spain over the course of his fruitful career. It’s with three of his musical compadres from Spain that he recorded this record — in Sweden, naturally. 

While most of Collins’ releases from the late ’80s through the early part of this decade eschewed straight-up power pop in favor a of a more relaxed, countrified atmosphere, Ribbon Of Gold finds Collins going back to what he does best — writing and performing memorable, energetic rock and roll. Perhaps he was pushed to greater heights by his youthful bandmates or maybe he simply thought it was time to turn up the guitars again. in any event, tunes such as “I Still Want You,” “Falling In Love With Her” and “She Doesn’t Want To Hang Around With You” harken back to the halcyon days of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Girl” and classic rockin’ power-pop. 

Even when Collins slows the pace up a tad on “Hey DJ,” “Without You” and “Ribbon Of Gold” (whose lyrics read like the tale of the Nerves’ early days touring the U.S. in a station wagon), the results are still quite satisfying.  It’s only on the ballads — which are strangely lumped together as the final three songs on the disc — where things lag, in part due to Collins’ weary vocals. Still, Ribbon Of Gold is a pleasant surprise from one of power pop’s most enduring voices.