When Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe departed from Stiff Records they left to become the aces in Radar Records' pack.
Lowe has been the first to play his hand at Radar with his Jesus of Cool album, which has done well in the charts.
Lowe is a man of many talents and with the Jesus album he's turned in an irresistible record which embraces a multitude of pop styles from the Beach Boys to the Stranglers.
There are eleven tracks on the LP — five previously released — but there are no musician credits whatsoever.
Lowe's humour shines through in his bizarre lyrics, which mix with straight pop rhythms to produce a heady brew.
The outstanding track is "Nutted By Reality," which starts with a tale of Castro being castrated and ends up as bubbly a pop time you'll find. "Little Hitler" is a gem of a number which has Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys written all over it.
If this is the Jesus of Cool it's well worth the money to become a disciple.
It was expected that Lowe would come up with something useful for his first solo effort.
Costello, on the other hand was under a good deal more pressure since be had already treated us to a classic debut album. The question was could he deliver the goods a second time around.
The answer is a resounding Yeah! Costello has followed My Aim Is True with another gem in This Year's Model.
When Costello first appeared he was treated as mild amusement. My Aim Is True changed all that and with this album he has confirmed that he is just about the best thing to come out of the New Wave.
Both Costello and his band the Attractions, plus Blondie, have done a sterling job in utilising the sounds and styles from the Sixties.
On This Year's Model the sound is at its very best and of coarse, Elvis is there delivering his amazing lyrics with more bite than Jaws.
I found this album a little less accessible than his first to begin with, but it's impossible to take off the turntable and what it eventually boils down to is that there is not a weak track on it.
From the opener, "No Action" right through to the final cut, "Night Rally," Costello belts it out with the ferocity and verve that puts him alongside Springsteen and Parker.
You'll at least have heard the outstanding single "I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea" — well there are a lot more on the album which can equal it.
Costello is bang on target again. This Year's Model is a winner and will easily stand the test of time.
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