Street Hassle

(Arista)

by Joe Fernbacher

Mewing forth through the traipsing haze of the street corner comes Lou Reed, the acknowledged mahatma of punkography, acknowledging the homage that's been paid him for so long and setting about showing the kids just how it's supposed to be done with Street Hassle. His tremulous asphalt scenes and back alley scenario have been mainstays for so long that it's become all too easy to dismiss his lack of real out of control energy as artistic complacency and/or outright boredom. Not so; Lou has always been the master of the back beat, the honcho supreme of slippin' in and out of life with as much aplomb and reserve as possible. He's the ultimate disciple of cool—and he knows it.