Athens Flagpole, November 30, 1994

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Elvis Costello: This Year's Model


Jim Winders

Anyone who has followed the sometimes mystifying, always productive career of Elvis Costello will certainly want to acknowledge that the years with Warner Brothers Records (since 1989) have been disappointing when contrasted with the singer’s earlier long association with Columbia (1977-88). Spike (1989) and Mighty Like A Rose (1991) offered a good song or two, but seemed cluttered (with far too many guest musicians) and directionless. After such undistinguished work (considering the artist in question), the somewhat bizarre collaboration with The Brodsky Quartet that produced The Juliet Letters (1993) could almost seem like a “Why Not?” kind of career move. Actually, I like that unusual exercise in chamber music. But despite my general respect of Elvis Costello, I could not assume that his next musical offering would please me.

I’m happy to have been proven wrong. 1994 has been the year of a real Elvis Costello resurgence. Brutal Youth (Warner Brothers) proved to be his strongest album since Imperial Bedroom (1982) and Rykodisc re-issued Get Happy!! and Truth, two of his greatest albums from, respectively, 1980 and 1981. Both CDs offer excellent sound quality and abundant additional and previously unreleased tracks. As with Bob Dylan, one of the few artists more prolific than Costello, these selections are every bit as good as the ones chosen for the original album.

With Brutal Youth, Costello returns to the lean, mean sound of this enfant terrible immediate post punk years. He appears with a pared-down ensemble of musicians, consisting of the reunited Attractions (with whom he made his greatest records) plus fellow-traveler Nick Lowe (who plays bass on about as many tracks as Bruce Thomas). I would have preferred Lowe as co-producer (with Elvis) over the ubiquitous Mitchell Froom, both because it would complete the sense of return to roots and because I favor producers like Lowe associated with one particular musical style. Like Don Was, Froom is all over the musical map when it comes to artists he produces. I suppose versatility is admirable, but I fail to see the point.

Elvis Costello does not fail to see the point on Brutal Youth, which is to cut the crap and play the kind of urgent great music that is his signature. He seems to have returned, hopefully permanently, to his musical senses. The first track “Pony St.” sounds at once like the best numbers from Armed Forces (1978) and Get Happy rolled into one, with Pete Thomas’ trademark drum roll and the half-growl half-squeal in Costello’s voice, particularly at the end of each line. To my ear, several of the tunes on Brutal Youth aim at specific songs on the matchless Get Happy!. “Clown Strike” is this album’s “Clowntime is Over.” “20% Amnesia” is very close musically to “Five Gears in Reverse.” “My Science Fiction Twin,” with Steve Nieve’s spooky organ-playing and Nick Lowe’s nothin’ fancy bass throb, is a dead ringer in places for “Opportunity.” What I mean to suggest through these comparisons is the thrilling balance the musicians strike between tight, disciplined playing and that woozy, swervy, swaying (let’s hear it for Farfisa) feeling. It’s the kind of synthesis at which The Band excelled, as you can hear on “Stage Fright” or “W.S. Walcott Medicine Show.”

To mention Elvis Costello in the same breath as The Band is to invite the scorn of the punkophile for whom Costello, who sported a long beard for a while and once professed admiration for The Grateful Dead, has always been something of an anachronism. Of course, this is the same Elvis who once got punched out by Bonnie Bramlett for uttering a racist slur on Ray Charles. The cover photo of Brutal Youth, which reproduces a black and white childhood snapshot of young Declan MacManus a.k.a. Elvis Costello standing with a playmate of colour (as they spell it in the U.K.), may be an attempt at some kind of atonement for that offense. In any case, his mercurial personality has always confused his fans, whether through his social comportment or the musical restlessness that leads him to try his hand at so many different styles.

Even 1981, which I upheld earlier as a time of greater stylistic consistency, saw Elvis indulging his love of country and western-style crooning with the album Almost Blue (it was not at all uncommon to see two Costello album releases per year in those days). This was close to the time when Costello had performed a duet with George Jones on his album My Very Special Guests. Elvis recaptures that mournful heartbroken sound (borrowed from Patsy Cline, among others) of Almost Blue on “Still Too Soon To Know,” which provides a departure from the sound of most of Brutal Youth. This album, like the singer’s best, continues to yield up surprises.

Elvis the Younger can still deliver as impressively as he did on Get Happy!! or Trust. The reissues are among Rykodisc’s finest achievements. Both feature informative booklets with notes by the man himself. Especially interesting are the tracks added for the CD reissue, as well as Costello’s comments about them. The ones included on Get Happy!! are a combination of alternate takes and tunes previously available on Taking Liberties a 1980 compilation of singles and B-sides. Listen to the slow version of “Clowntime is Over,” the acoustic-guitar based “Black & White World” and the more rocking version of “Riot Act.” There is even a fragment of an alternate version of “Love For Tender.” On Trust, the accent is on previously unreleased performances. Standouts include “Black Sails in the Sunset” and “Twenty-Five to Twelve.”

These CDs provide extremely generous amounts of music. One curious practice is the prolonged silence between tracks in the “Extended Play” sections. Strange in a way, but it lets the suspense build.


Tags: This Year's ModelWarner BrothersColumbia RecordsSpikeMighty Like A RoseThe Brodsky QuartetThe Juliet LettersBrutal YouthImperial BedroomGet Happy!!TrustBob DylanThe AttractionsNick LoweBruce ThomasMitchell FroomDon WasPony St.Armed ForcesPete ThomasClown StrikeClowntime Is Over20% Amnesia5ive Gears In ReverseMy Science Fiction TwinSteve NieveOpportunityThe BandGrateful DeadColumbus incidentBonnie BramlettRay CharlesAlmost BlueGeorge JonesGeorge Jones: My Very Special GuestsPatsy ClineStill Too Soon To KnowRykodiscTaking LibertiesBlack And White WorldRiot ActLove For TenderBlack Sails In The SunsetTwenty-Five To Twelve

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Flagpole Magazine, November 30, 1994


Jim Winders reviews Brutal Youth and the Rykodisc extended reissues of Get Happy!! and Trust.

Images

1994-11-30 Athens Flagpole page 11 clipping composite.jpg
Clipping composite.


Cover and page scan.
1994-11-30 Athens Flagpole cover.jpg 1994-11-30 Athens Flagpole page 11.jpg

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