First brought to fame as a member of the idiosyncratically named
Terry Dactyl & the Dinosaurs, U.K. hitmakers in the early '70s,
Jona Lewie proved that band's oddball output was no fluke when he materialized within the Stiff Records roster at the end of the decade. An unlikely attraction on the label's second package tours, rubbing shoulders with acts as disparate as Detroit art goddess
Lene Lovich and the inestimable
Wreckless Eric,
Lewie then scored a minor cult hit with the insistent "The Baby, She's on the Street," before unleashing his debut album in 1980. "The Baby" remains one of the easiest entries into
On the Other Hand There's a Fist, a set that otherwise plays out like a nouveau-cabaret act, tight and cohesive, infused with good humor and the light pattered songs that
Lewie did best -- the menacing title certainly belies the content. Leaping into the fray with the catchy pop of his U.K. Top 20 "(You'll Always Find Me in The) Kitchen at Parties," which features
Kirsty MacColl in the backing chorus (and again on "A Bit Higher"), it's only a matter of time before he reaches the sweet, old-time love song "God Bless Whoever Made You," a marriage of '60s innocence with blistered guitar that ultimately emerges a Stiff trademark -- interesting quirk. Elsewhere, he hits streets with "On the Road" and the bluesy piss-fest "I'll Get by in Pittsburgh," which just leaves one of the album's few sour moments, "Feelin' Stupid" -- which ultimately sounds stupid too. Plying his wonderful voice like another instrument in his band,
Lewie adds his own uniquely styled verve to an already eccentric generation of vocalists. Although probably unknown in the United States,
Lewie is a voice to be sought out, and reckoned with. ~ Amy Hanson