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The 1970s have been a rough decade for youth culture. We are a generation drifting. confused, waiting to find our collective identity. The ghost of Bob Dylan cast a long shadow, haunting promising musicians like Bruce Springsteen and John Prine.
As established stars became "beautiful people," critics hailed punk rock as the wave of the future. Consciousness III, naively prophesized in The Greening of America, turned into a quaalude and booze stupor before finally degenerating into a PCP nightmare.
Through it all — protest, acid, apathy, disco and the death of rock — rock 'n' roll survived. But by the mid-70s, the slashing guitars, booming basses and pulsing rhythms had become cliche. Popular comedians like Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin filled the cultural void with their rich celebrations of the absurd.
Last year a short-haired, 22-year-old former computer operator merged the angry, high-powered rock of the 60s with the comic vision of the 70s. Elvis Costello's premier album, My Aim is True, first gained popularity by word of mouth.
The album, which eventually won wide critical acclaim, contains some of the most widely-quoted rock lyrics of the year, from the song "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes."
"Oh I used to be disgusted
And now I try to be amused.
But since their wings have got rusted
You know the angels want to wear my red shoes."
When he toured America after the release of the first album, audiences discovered his powerful, ominous stage presence. After silencing a drunken heckler by tossing a drink into his face and brandishing a broken glass, Costello burst into a tense version of "Watching the Detectives." The song, on his first album, is a chilling description of a boy who tries to attract a girl's attention while she watches a TV detective show.
Costello's second album, This Year's Model, shows that he is no passing fad. As on My Aim is True, he combines tight, stinging rock with some of the sharpest lyrics this side of Highway 61 Revisited. The 11 songs infuse new life into classical rock themes such as young love, rejection and jealousy.
In the chorus of "Living in Paradise," Costello's voice, taut with emotion, rips through the music like a chain saw. "Here we are living in paradise / Living in luxury / Oh the thrill's here but it won't last long / You better have your fun before it moves along."
While rich, aging rockers contrived songs about the young generation, Costello's painful songs about shattered relationships have the ring of truth.
On hard rock pieces like "Lipstick Vogue." the band (keyboards, bass, drums and Costello on guitar) balances on the fine edge between frenzied abandon and utter chaos.
Costello does not talk much about his songs; he leaves the press to ponder their meanings. There is plenty to ponder. Ten years ago Elvis Costello might have been a fringe character in a Kurt Vonnegut novel. Today, this intense, awkward-looking new artist is being hailed by critics as a saviour of rock 'n' roll.
He has the insights of an established artist and the vitality of a kid just out of high school. If he does not fade, future rock critics may one day be obsessed with the search for the next Elvis Costello.
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