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Even by the standards of the rock business, where weirdness is a profitable commodity, Elvis Costello is an odd fellow.
Physically, he's a throwback to the Buddy Holly look — horn-rimmed glasses, pale features, short but unkempt hairstyle, emaciated body.
His on-stage demeanor is tense and distant — "Costello never cracked a sneer, let alone a smile," wrote Greil Marcus after his first U.S. performance.
Despite all this, Elvis Costello is currently one of the hottest items in the New Wave rock movement. His debut LP, My Aim is True, is already something of a cult classic.
Though adopted as a bona fide Punk by enthusiastic critics and fans, Costello more closely resembles rhythm-and-blues resurgents like Southside Johnny and Graham Parker. Vocally, he is very much reminiscent of Parker's desperate, stripped urgency.
Costello's band is, unhappily, much less proficient than Rumour, Parker's back-up group. Their clumsiness is occasionally laughable on My Aim is True, as in the pseudo-reggae "Watching The Detectives."
The recorded sound, while considerably less than optimal, is refreshing for its anachronistic qualities. Most of the cuts here have that unmistakable, rudimentary rock sound that hails from the Monophonic Era — primitive rhythm guitar; tentative, vibrato-laden lead guitar; cardboard drums and a ten-dollar plastic organ.
Neither the band's occasional incompetence nor the minimal production job by Nick Lowe detract from the riveting power of Costello's presence. The man sings with ferocious urgency and better than average control. "Blame It On Cain" offers one of his most impressive vocals.
On "Alison," a classic ballad, he is remarkably affecting. This cut is probably Costello's best bet for an AM hit and is already receiving considerable airplay.
Other standouts on My Aim is True include "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," "Mystery Dance" (two danceable rave-ups), "Pay It Back" and "Waiting For The End Of The World."
Costello authored each of the 13 cuts on the album, revealing himself to be a songwriter of considerable gifts. His arrangements are not as sophisticated as Parker's, but they are just as melodically appealing.
Although capable of humor (as in "Blame It On Cain"), Costello, whose nickname is "Revenge and Guilt," embodies the surliness of most New Wave rockers. "Welcome To The Working Week" and "Less Than Zero" are angry, convincing statements, even if they fall short of the total nihilism of Johnny Rotten.
Costello, who is British, played his first U.S. concert last November in the Old Waldorf in San Francisco, where a sell-out crowd crammed into the small auditorium to hear the new phenomenon. For months, My Aim Is True had been available only as an import and his music had been played on only the most progressive of FM stations.
By the time of the first performance, however, Costello had signed with Columbia Records and was receiving considerable FM and even some AM exposure. The resurgence of classic rock and roll values, loosely grouped under the heading of "punk," continues to grow in America, even if our version falls short of the amazing phenomenon in Britain.
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