POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Wit and Charm Elevate Collins’ Guitar-Pop

A Rod McKuen song and a former member of the Sex Pistols in the same show? Both were part of Edwyn Collins’ concert on Saturday at the Hollywood Grand. The Scotsman played an earnest, acoustic version of the romance-besotted McKuen’s “Love’s Been Good to Me” early on, before being joined by his strong three-piece band, which includes ex-Pistols drummer Paul Cook.

Collins teetered toward the McKuen end of the scale more often with his bouncy brand of guitar-pop. What elevated it was his wit and charm. The mocking “The Campaign for Real Rock” and the Yippie-turned-yuppie put-down of “Gorgeous George,” the title song of his recent album, lean almost into Noel Coward territory, if not Johnny Rotten land.

Stage persona-wise, though, Collins showed no ambition to be a Coward, a Rotten or a David Bowie--the obvious blueprint for his current KROQ hit “A Girl Like You.” While his genial earthiness was attractive, it failed to inject needed drama into the presentation.

New York band Ivy’s opening set had a similar tone--it even included a song by Collins’ old band Orange Juice. The group’s hook is the airy, slightly flat French accent of singer Dominique Durand, but haunting the alternative-lite music was a nagging feeling that at any minute the band would launch into “Georgie Girl.”