Daily Nebraskan, February 26, 1981

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Costello's Trust found beneath music's surface


Casey McCabe

Trust is another elusive masterpiece for Elvis Costello. A masterpiece in that he again shows sparkling talent at turning a music phrase, and elusive because Costello still doesn't want people to understand him.

This is a man, a young one at that, whose songs invoke the spirit of anyone from Roy Orbison to Rodgers and Hammerstein. Somewhere in between there is a very unique sound to Elvis Costello, and on Trust he again treats us to its simple pleasures, produced with characteristic understatement by Nick Lowe.

If Get Happy seemed like an ironic title for the last batch of Costello tunes, Trust provides an even quainter paradox. Trust and happiness don't appear much in his repertoire, and if they do, it is in theory not in practice. Costello would have you believe every woman he comes up against is some kind of viper. His ability to read between the lines in such lyrical relationships makes him an observational genius, but an emotional outcast as well.

Costello has a method of twisting his doubts and pain around some of the catchiest pop basics, with a sharp-edged voice that is strictly of his own device. This has led to the speculation since his debut that Costello is the Next Big Thing. Though his cult has grown enough to command a bit of respect from his label, CBS records, Costello remains the antithesis of the rock star mold.

Trust finds Elvis stretching out over musical styles more than any previous effort. That he doesn't spread himself thin makes the album an especially rewarding achievement for this musician who is continually being pigeonholed as the "prince of punk" or some equally narrow misnomer.

"Pretty Words" and "Watch Your Step" are good chronicles of Costello on the cutting edge, burned and bitter. He takes this a step further with a disturbingly violent tone on "White Knuckles" where he pushes his bitterness to the verge of being psychotic. Yet Costello throws in a touch of childlike sensitivity in places like "New Lace Sleeves" and "Big Sister's Clothes." What he loses in schizophrenia he makes up in cool British tact.

Costello squeezed in a few surprises on Trust. On "Different Finger" he shows more heartfelt country and western authenticity than a fleet of Nashville's cross over artists. On "From A Whisper To A Scream," which is dynamically the album's best, Costello splits vocals nicely with Pete Thomas.

Elsewhere on Trust Costello's vocal range swings from throaty crooner to his straining nasal best. His emotional outlook may often be morosely one-dimensional, but his vocal stylizations are among the most creative in the otherwise banal rock music spectrum.

On the rapid-fire rock side there is the torrid "Luxembourg" that stands out on the album. But perhaps Costello's best statement on Trust is the simplistic "Shot With His Own Gun" with its dramatic piano accompaniment and lyrics that reflect a man consumed with the seemingly impossible emotion of objective passion.

Elvis Costello puts some people off as being thick-skinned or sterile. While the attitude is a dead end road for most, Costello makes digging underneath the surface of his music worthwhile. As Britain's Bruce Springsteen, Elvis doesn't appear interested in making people happy, but ends up doing it anyway.


Tags: TrustPretty WordsWatch Your StepWhite KnucklesNew Lace SleevesBig Sister's ClothesDifferent FingerLuxembourgShot With His Own GunFrom A Whisper To A ScreamNick LowePete ThomasGet Happy!!Roy OrbisonRodgers & HammersteinBruce Springsteen

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Daily Nebraskan, February 26, 1981


Casey McCabe reviews Trust

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1981-02-26 Daily Nebraskan page 09 clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.

Page scan.
1981-02-26 Daily Nebraskan page 09.jpg

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