|
Since it's likely (make that inevitable) that our sister (brother?) column will disgorge reams of commentary on Elvis Costello's third longplayer, Coast will keep its own exegesis fairly short.
Armed Forces has more than its share of bracing successors to the songs that drove the first two sets with such fury, yet more significant are the departures. The Attractions and producer Nick Lowe (yeah, him again) assist in the transition from the unvarnished, first-take authenticity of the earliest sides to a more calculated studio approach without dulling the music's cutting edge. El himself expands his vocal role to an often striking range of overdubbed choral effects while Steve Naive's elegant keyboard arrangements threaten to make his last name obsolete.
Those fillips might obscure the message of a lesser artist, but lyrically these new songs are Costello's toughest and most sharply observed. Oddly, the set's one letdown is El's reading of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," a Lowe chestnut that appears in the same, thundering incarnation on the B-side of Lowe's current U.K. single. Lest you think we've lost our ears, check the original by Lowe, recorded with Brinsley Schwarz on that band's Golden Favourites album (UA, U.K. only), where Lowe turns in a wonderfully deadpanned spoken bridge, and is repayed by a scorching solo from Schwarz.
More Elvises — Look for Costello and The Attractions to make a mid-February tour stop at The Palomino, reportedly being viewed as this year's alternative to The Roxy (last year's was The Whisky)... And for another report from Continental Twist '79, the New Year's Eve party with a difference (either brain damage or Nehru jackets, we're not sure which), Merlis: A Tribute To Elvis proved an angular delight as erected by none other than Bob "Elvis Bostella" Merlis, whom COAST hereby nominates First Understudy.
|
