Nick Lowe: Labour Of Lust (Radar)***.5

PEOPLE USED to slate Frank Zappa by dragging out some old rock critic's smart jibe that however Francis would parody 'Louie, Louie' till he was blue in the face, he could never have been clever enough to write it in the first place. Nick Lowe's a bit like that, though his saving grace is that he doesn't parody, he affectionately emulates. Steals, if you will.