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Elvis Costello's latest album — his 10th, titled Goodbye Cruel World — is no great shakes. But that's not a reason to stay away from Costello when he headlines tomorrow night at the Spectrum Theater.
Whether the bespectacled English singer/ songwriter is touring with the Attractions or going solo, as he did during his April stop at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, Costello remains a riveting concert performer, infusing songs that sound questionable on vinyl with a fierce conviction and a wiry singing style.
On Goodbye Cruel World, Costello and the Attractions — keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas — meted out a mixed and muddled collection of songs. There are some good things here, like the cool, croony soul single, "The Only Flame in Town" (featuring backup vocals from Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates), and the rollicking "Sour Milk-Cow Blues." But overall, Costello's songs have fallen into a kind of self-serious and formulaic middle ground: His lyrics have become exercises in clever word-play — twisted cliches, puns and ding-dong rhyme schemes. And the music has become a kind of melody-less mix of Sinatra pop and Motown R&B arrangements.
Onstage, however, Costello can take dumb, lazy stuff like "The Great Unknown" and breathe life into it. When Costello first came onto the scene in 1977, new wave's "angry young man" practically sneered out his songs in fast, frenetic bursts; he was uncomfortable in the role of stage performer and assumed a hostile, antagonistic stance.
Nowadays, Costello commands the stage with the casual aplomb of one of his acknowledged heroes — Sinatra. He is gentlemanly and funny, dry and cynical, even charming. With the backing of one of the best ensembles working in rock, Costello could croon names from a phonebook and make it sound good.
Opening the Costello show tomorrow night is his longtime friend, mentor and former producer, Nick Lowe.
Lowe and his band, featuring former Squeeze singer/keyboardist Paul Carrack, are being billed as "Nick Lowe and His Cowboy Outfit," which is also the name of the veteran British rocker's new album.
Lowe is the flip side of Costello: a songwriter who takes himself with absolutely no seriousness whatsoever. Here is a man who can write a song called "The Gee and the Rick and the Three Card Trick" — a song as marvelously nonsensical as its title — and parlay it into a soulful pop ditty of remarkable strength. And his new album is his best in years: unpretentious, uniformly fun stuff, all of it saddled with winning melodies that sound as though they were stolen from a million hit songs. (They probably were.)
Lowe, a gangly, gray-haired fellow closing in on his 40s, is an entertaining if not spellbinding performer, and his set should certainly be a good one. How he can keep so chipper when he consistently fails to crack the U.S. Top 10 (and consistently conies up with material that should) is anyone's guess. Reportedly, he has even quit drinking, so who can figure?
Maybe his latest single, the buoyant "Half a Boy and Half a Man" will be the one to do it Lowe will no doubt be singing it tomorrow night. Give a listen,
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