Produced and recorded by Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studiosin Wales, this 1978 janglefest put the San Francisco based cultband back on the map at the height of the punk/new wavemovement.

The Flamin' Groovies veröffentlichten 1978 ihr fünftes Studioalbum »Now«. Das Album brachte ihnen ein internationales Publikum, das von der Post-Punk-Ethik der Einfachheit geprägt war, die mit ihrem klassischen melodischen Pop der Westküste harmonierte. »Now« wurde von Dave Edmunds produziert und enthielt sowohl Eigenkompositionen als auch Coverversionen von Künstlern wie Gene Clark, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles und Cliff Richard.

It looks like listeners are destined to rely on imports for most of the Groovies' Sire catalog. In 1978, the group was getting all kinds of great press, and even some radio play from their comeback Shake Some Action album on Sire, and embarked on a national tour playing clubs like the Bottom Line in New York in front of every rock V.I.P. who could wangle a ticket. And to accompany the tour, they put out Flamin' Groovies Now!, an album of more British Invasion tracks. The sound on this record, produced and engineered by Dave Edmunds, was a notable improvement over Shake Some Action, and the group had lost none of its flair for the period or the style, though there was also precious little new ground covered. The range of styles embraced on this record was astonishing -- "Between the Lines" and "Take Me Back," and especially "Good Laugh Mun" were examples of Edmunds emulating Phil Spector, and had the Groovies sounding like the Beach Boys of "Don't Worry Baby" and recalled the way the early Kinks covered American music; "House of Blue Lights" gave nods to both Merrill Moore and Chuck Berry, as well as the Stones. The songs off of side two were harder, giving them more the kind of edge one associated with the Stones or the Rockin' Vickers. But their version of Gene Clark's "Feel a Whole Lot Better" was the crowning achievement on this record, the best contemporary cover of a Byrds track ever done, and one so good that some fans thought a re-formed Byrds should have done a cover of the Groovies' "Shake Some Action" in return.

(by Bruce Eder, All Music Guide)