Loyola College Greyhound, February 29, 1980

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Elvis's newest slightly off target

Elvis Costello & the Attractions / Get Happy!!

Chris Kaltenbach

Being in the vanguard of any new movement, while it does bring immediate importance and some measure of fame, is really no fun. People hang on every work you say and every move you make.

The popular rules say that every more you make has to be an improvement on the last; even a sideways step is seen as a letdown, a major disappointment.

As one of the first new wave rock and rollers to gain both critical and popular approval, Elvis Costello has found himself placed squarely in the vanguard of the new wave movement. Every one of the drawbacks mentioned above apply to him. Get Happy! is not Elvis' best album, containing neither the sheer power-punching ability of Armed Forces or the virginal simplicity of My Aim Is True. No dramatically new ground is broken, few limits are pushed to their breaking point. What we have is an artist pausing to gaze at the scenery, to take stock of what has happened thus far — a temporary holding pattern while gains are consolidated.

There are no glaring wrongs on Get Happy!; rather, there are a number of noticeable drawbacks that, taken as a whole, lessens the album's impact. And much of what's not right is the result of some rather ambitious and certainly admirable efforts on the part of Costello and producer Nick Lowe.

As a bonus to the economy-minded, 20 songs are crammed onto the album — almost 50 minutes worth of music. Unfortunately, it occasionally sounds as though the songs really were crammed on. "Beaten to the Punch" seems to stop before building up any genuine head of steam; "I Stand Accused" sounds, at the beginning, as though someone was a little late pushing a button; and many cuts, clocking in at less that two minutes, seem no more than sparse, under-developed ideas quickly etched onto vinyl.

More disturbing is the muddled producing of Nick Lowe. On Armed Forces, Lowe's crisp production gave the songs a sharp, punchy sound that seemed to jump right off the record, with Elvis' vocals rising above the fray to deliver his message with all the urgency and emphasis he could muster.

But on Get Happy!, Elvis' voice is frequently drowned in the mix, making the words not enigmatic but downright unintelligible. The crispness of the drums, bass, and keyboards that before jumped right at the listener, likewise seems stuck in the quagmire.

All of which I don't think is serious cause for alarm, however. He's still the same bitter, sarcastic, mysterious young rebel, looking at a world whose actions he can't quite comprehend. His main sticking points remain women and the relationships between men and women: "Motel Matches" denounces a woman whose love is given away as freely as the song's namesake (and probably in the same place); "Love For Tender" is another ode to spurned love; and "Riot Act" has a love that was promised to last forever ending today.

And there are songs here that belong in the main body of Costello's strongest work, most notably "Black And White World," "Clowntime Is Over," "King Horse," "Riot Act," and "Opportunity." No song quite captures the spark and immediacy of "Oliver's Army," "Watching The Detectives," or "Radio, Radio." But then, nothing really eats it, either.

Maybe it's too much to expect, from Elvis or from any artist, that he keep getting exponentially better on each go round. Personally, when a man has smashed the bullseye on three successive tries, I'm not too distressed at seeing him hit slightly off-center on the fourth.

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The Greyhound, February 29, 1980


Chris Kaltenbach reviews Get Happy!!.

Images

1980-02-29 Loyola College Greyhound page 08 clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.

1980-02-29 Loyola College Greyhound page 08.jpg
Page scan.

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