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He may not be spitting on people and kicking over mic stands like he did in the days of the Attractions, but the vitriolic spirit can still move Elvis Costello to pen a wicked tune or two. Clearly, after penning arias, folk songs and collaborating with a few performers as far removed from pop music as you can get, the last thing you’d think Costello would do is play electric guitar and sing silly little ditties. Not that anything he writes is really all that silly.
When I Was Cruel is a reunion of sorts for Costello and half his old band. As you might expect, they get right down to business. “45,” “Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s A Doll Revolution).” “Dissolve” and “Daddy Can I Turn This” are upfront rockers with thumping percussion and squealing guitars, while tracks like “Spooky Girlfriend” flirt with swampy atmospherics.
The real sweetheart on this album is the epic “When I Was Cruel No. 2,” possibly one of the finest songs Costello has written in years. These are seven minutes you’ll want to enjoy over and over again, as he warbles lines like “It was so much easier when I was cruel/She reaches out her arms to me/Imploring another melody/So she can dance her husband out on the floor.” It even quotes ABBA. Ever sarcastic, maybe even a little romantic (in the hopeless sense of the word), Costello has never lost his sense of humour.
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