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It was 29 years ago that Elvis Costello emerged on the English music scene with the force of an active volcano, the seething fury of his music matched by the vitriol of his bitter, revenge-fueled lyrics. The year was 1977 and Costello was just 23, which is four years older than most of the members of the new English music sensation Arctic Monkeys.
For all the critical acclaim he received, Costello's 13-song debut album, the now-classic My Aim Is True, was only moderately successful. It rose to No. 14 in England and No. 36 in the States, (where it would not pass the million-sales mark until 1991). He still has never had a No. 1 album in either country.
Conversely, Arctic Monkeys' 13-song debut is the fastest-selling debut album ever in the United Kingdom, with first-week sales in January of 360,000 copies. It entered the charts there at No. 1, selling more copies in its first day of release (118,501) than all 19 of the other albums in the Top 20, combined. Much of the credit for this goes to the band's grass-roots following, which surged after fans began posting Arctic Monkeys' songs on the Internet — and downloading them for free — with the group's blessing.
Even before it was released, NME, the UK's hype-fueled weekly music tabloid, went so far as to declare Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not the fifth best album of — ahem! — all time. Such a move surely did no favors for the group, or for NME's long-suspect credibility.
Does such record-breaking success mean Arctic Monkeys' debut is superior to My Aim Is True, or that the group can equal the quality and longevity of Costello's career?
In a word, no, although very few veteran artists can match his skill, vision and stylistic diversity. A more intriguing question is: Will Arctic Monkeys fall prey to the same sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle that cost the young Costello his first marriage?
Only time will tell, although there are a few similarities between the band and the young Costello — notably a lyrical emphasis on sexual insecurities and obvious nods to their respective artistic inspirations.
Yet, while Costello's debut proudly displayed his influences (from reggae to the Band), he was already swiftly rising above them. Not so the members of Arctic Monkeys, who add little to their influences, which include such equally derivative buzz bands as Franz Ferdinand, the Strokes and the Libertines. Alex Turner's prematurely world-weary vocals owe an obvious debt to glam-era David Bowie, one of Arctic Monkeys' few role models to predate this century.
The guitar-driven group performs with infectious spunk and energy, especially on its UK chart-topping single, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor," the funk-inflected "Dancing Shoes" and the thundering, pop-punk rave-up "The View From the Afternoon."
The band vividly essays teen angst in its songs, but clearly requires more time to forge a distinctive artistic identity by developing its songwriting skills and musicianship. (On June 2, the Arctic Monkeys is scheduled to make its local debut, at SOMA.)
Costello, meanwhile, has risen to another career high with My Flame Burns Blue. The two-CD set devotes one disc to 14 genre-leaping songs he recorded live at the 2004 North Sea Jazz Festival with Holland's 52-piece Metropole Orkest. The second features excerpts from his 2005 album, Il Sogno, the orchestral ballet score he was commissioned to write in 2000.
Impeccably accompanied by the Metropole Orkest (whose previous collaborators range from sax great Stan Getz to San Diego guitar wiz Mike Keneally), Costello expertly bridges the borders between jazz and contemporary classical music, edgy art songs and Tin Pan Alley. This approach allows him to boldly reinvent old favorites — "Clubland" becomes a svelte cha-cha, while "Almost Blue" achieves new poignancy as an orchestral tone poem.
The arrangements by Costello and such jazz luminaries as Vince Mendoza and Bill Frisell are exquisite, and inspire some of the richest and most accomplished vocals of his career. Arctic Monkeys would do very well indeed to add him to their list of major influences.
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