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The latest album by Mr. Elvis Costello, This Year's Model, is a drastic turnabout from his first album, My Aim Is True. Mr. Costello, the 22 year old computer programmer, has been labelled as rock's latest "angry young man" by the usually insipid rock critics of the major news media. Just as bad, he is being marketed by Columbia Records as a punk phenomenon. Mr. Costello's music is slightly more accessible than that of today's punk bands. Thus, Columbia believes Mr. Costello will be popular among the self-proclaimed rock aficionados who find themselves in need of a punk artist with which to identity.
Mr. Costello's lyrics are derived from the same social, political and sexual frustrations expressed by most of Britain's punk bands. But Mr. Costello's music is infinitely more intricate and every bit as powerful and intense.
His first album was released in the summer of 1977 on the Stiff label and was only available in the United States as an import. Since that time, Stiff was bought by Arista Records and Mr. Costello was lured to Columbia Records. Columbia then released My Aim Is True in the fall of 1977. They spent huge sums of money on promotion and the album sold moderately. Meanwhile. Mr. Costello became the darling of the rock press and began to tour.
The first album was recorded in 24 hours over a period of six months. The studio used was relatively tiny and primitive, but it gave a crude yet dynamic and vital sound. Now that he is a full-fledged rock star, Mr. Costello moved to a more elaborate and sophisticated studio. The music on This Year's Model lacks the hard edge found on his earlier album, but the polished finish it acquired adds a new dimension to Mr. Costello's music. Also missing is the distinctive guitar leads, replaced by a pounding rhythm section and slicing organ.
The first cut on the album, "No Action," begins:
I don't wanna kiss you,
I don't wanna touch,
Cause I don't miss you that much...
Then drums, bass and organ come crashing down at a frantic pace. This rhythm onslaught is repeated again in "Lipstick Vogue," at an even greater pace. The intensity achieved here should envied by today's hard rock groups who achieve their intensity through volume because their music lacks a natural power. "Lipstick Vogue" captures Mr. Costello's strange thoughts on love:
Don't say you love me if it's just a rumor...
Don't say you love me if there's any doubt...
Sometimes I think of love as just a tumor...
You better cut it out.
His anger and frustrations do not permeate all his songs, though; "The Beat" sounds complacent and "Little Triggers" actually drags.
Mr. Costello once commented that rock-and-roll is the lowest form of life known to man. "Radio is not going to get any better, but nobody even seems to want to do anything about it," he said. He seems driven to deal with the whole music industry structure on his own terms. "I Want to make records that get on the radio all the time." he continued. He vents his frustrations with the music industry in "Radio, Radio":
I wanna bite the hand that feeds me
I wanna bite that hand so badly,
I wanna make them wish they'd never said that...
He goes as far as to call the people in the radio industry, "fools trying to anesthetize the way that you feel."
One of the more successful tunes on the album. "You Belong To Me," begins with a Beatle-era guitar introduction, but then drums take over and bring the song back to the present. Mr. Costello then proceeds to tell of his preference for freedom.
Don't wanna be a goodie-goodie,
Don't want just anybody,
No, don't want anybody saying...
You belong to me, You belong to to me.
Mr. Costello, along with Mr. Graham Parker, represent the best of the British music scene. If you are interested in their form of music, you should look into the latest album by Mr. Nick Lowe and two album collections on the Stiff label, A Bunch of Stiff Records and Hit's Greatest Stiffs. These albums provide hard-to-find cuts by Mr. Dave Edmunds, Mr. Graham Parker, Mr. Elvis Costello and Mr. Nick Lowe.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Costello's planned visit to Rochester last Wednesday was cancelled due to poor ticket sales. He was to appear at the Auditorium Theatre with Mr. Lowe, Mr. Edmunds and Mink DeVille.
Even though This Year's Model fails to live up to My Aim Is True, it is still the finest rock-and-roll album released this year, and is a warning to the complacent, aging rock stars of yesterday.
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