Pub rock was the cultural antecedent of English punk rock and new wave. The movement was loosely organized around a shared love of country and rhythm & blues and a disdain for the pretenses that ruled current British rock (cf. Yes, ELP). Many prominent pub rockers (Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, Joe Strummer, Graham Parker) went onto great things as punks and new wavers, but the members of Brinsley Schwarz (named for their guitarist - and record store clerks thought Jethro Tull was confusing...) blazed a trail for future power poppers.

Most notably, Nick Lowe - as a soloist, member of Rockpile, and producer - helped define the genre. The stellar path that Lowe would follow was well mapped by the time the Brinsleys broke up. Schwarz himself and keyboardist Bob Andrews would join Graham Parker's Rumour, and Brinsley-come-lately Ian Gomm made several good records for the Stiff label . However, the first couple of Brinsley Schwarz records were very country sounding, sometimes even venturing into CSN or Grateful Dead territory - nothing like what power pop would ultimately become. The band was the subject of a legendary hype in the States around this time - one so infamous it virtually assured the band's eventual demise. Brinsley Schwarz and Despite It All sound quaint in retrospect, but they catch fire occasionally ("Country Girl") and show signs of the wry humor that would mark Lowe's future work ("Rock & Roll Women").

The next album, Silver Pistol, stepped in the right direction, and the final two, Nervous On The Road and New Favourites Of Brinsley Schwarz cemented their repuation as prescient poppers. Somewhere in between, a good album of odd bits, Please Don't Ever Change, was dumped on the market; recently an even better "rarities" disc, Hen's Teeth, was released. All the above albums are available on disc as affordable imports; the first and last two studio albums are on nicely packaged and remastered two-on-one discs (BGO Records, pictured). Also of interest: What IS So Funny About Peace Love & Understanding? (2002) and Cruel To Be Kind (2004), both collections of BBC sessions; Surrender to the Rhythm (2004), an excellect best-of CD; and BGO's two-fer CD containing two vintage best-of LP's, Original Golden Greats (1974) and Fifteen Thoughts Of Brinsley Schwarz (1978).

The Nervous/Favourites package, in particular, shows how good the band could be. Throughout the Brinsley repertoire you'll hear songs that Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds (who produced Favourites), Rockpile, Ian Gomm, Elvis Costello and others rode to greater success on later records. "Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)," "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love And Understanding," "It's Been So Long," "I Like You I Don't Love You," and "Hooked On Love" all first saw light of day on Brinsley vinyl. If you're a card-carrying, power pop maniac, the Brinsleys' music won't blow you away - it's generally too laid back - but hearing it will show you, in part, from whence modern power pop evolved.