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This album is a superb follow-up to his debut My Aim Is True, combining clever and often powerful lyrics (but no lyric sheet) with some smart toons sung by Elvis in his very own jerky fashion. Mr. Costello however will win no prizes for joviality, his songs largely concentrating on subjects like jealous, disloyalty and frustration, as seen in "There's No Action" and "This Year's Girl" ("Those disco synthesizers / those daily tranquilizers / those body-building prizes / those bedroom alibis / all this, and no surprises / for this year's girl.").
The clipped, twitchy presentation is obvious in the reggaeish calypso of "On The Beat" as well as the cynical "Living In Paradise" ("I don't like those other guys looking at your curves / I don't like you walking round with physical jerks") and also on the single "Chelsea" — not the best track by any means, but strongly assaulting the shallowness of fickle fashion and being hip (Mr Bob Geldof and pose(u)rs).
This theme is continued in "Lipstick Vogue" a zippy rocker (with some nifty drums from Pete Thomas) as too is "Pump It Up" (V.G.) which contrasts with the enigmatic (meaning I don't understand it) "Little Triggers," followed by a fine pop song "You Belong To Me" ("Your eyes are absent / Your mouth is silent / pumpin' like a fire hydrant / things you see are getting hard to swallow / you're easily led, but you're much too scared to follow / you've been warned / you're going to get torn / No uniform is gonna keep you warm.")
Side 2 is full of quality, specially in the bitter succulent "Hand In Hand," "Lipstick Vogue" (see above), "Lip Service" (sehr gut, man) and finally the brilliant "Night Rally," a disquieting, warning concerning the threat of fascism in the UK ("You think they're so dumb / you think they're so funny / wait until they got you runnin to their night rally").
All very deft. Can I have my money now?
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