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But is your guitar loaded with blanks? Elvis Costello is an unlikely character to be carrying the banner of Britain's New Wave rock across the seas to the American marketplace. It's too soon to tell what his impact here will be, but in his homeland this former computer programmer was an overnight success.
On those rare occasions when Elvis Costello comes to mind, so does a composite of Southside Johnny and Graham Parker with a touch of Steve Gibbons. We might throw some Woody Allen in there, too, on the basis of appearance.
It would be too easy to dismiss Costello as a Graham Parker sound-alike but his singing is phrased in much the same way and his back-up band plays even more basic rhythm and blues than Parker's. Add the fact that both frontmen are nothing but skin and bones and the match-up is almost complete.
So are we left to conclude that Costello's brand of New Wave music is distinguished from nuts-and-bolts rhythm and blues only by the oversized sport coats, window pane glasses and turned-up blue jeans in which he's in the habit of being photographed? We might look to the lyrics for the answer because as a guitarist Costello is definitely pre-Chuck Berry, which, I guess, is at least consistent with his image.
I liked "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" even if the words to this spare rocker were a little arcane: "I used to be disgusted, And now I try to be amused; But since their wings got rusted, Ya know the angels wanna wear my red shoes." Hmm.
From the "Hang on Sloopy" beginning of "Less Than Zero" to a take-off on Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" called "Mystery Dance," we know we are dealing with a songwriter of extraordinary talents. The production effort was designed to make Costello sound positively primitive but he could do that without accompaniment. His back-up, however, is often underdone and a few cuts sounded as if they were recorded in a garage. That was no accident, I suspect.
Costello sings one rock ballad on My Aim Is True with a kind of tortured pronunciation that brings additional emotional impact to the song. He brings his listeners into the 1970s only once, with a tight-fisted rocker called "I'm Not Angry." I knew he had it in him all the time. That piece rivals the best of what Graham Parker and the Rumour has done to date and is the only full-blown production number on the album.
In case you were wondering whether Costello is just a cheap exploiter of the Presley legacy, he took the name "Elvis" before Presley's death and there is absolutely nothing kingly about him.
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