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There is nothing quite like a new Elvis Costello album, and King of America, his best since Imperial Bedroom is no exception.
All of the Costello trademarks are there: the Buddy Holly bounce, the Porter-Weillian ballads, not to mention a couple of Bob Seger-ish guitar licks ala Night Moves and Costello's own brand of wry humor.
The only problem is whenever he slips in a joke or sick pun, he turns around and sets the listener's head spinning with a tear-jerking story, but that's no problem at all for Costello, the master of situational chaos. He's good at it.
Costello co-produced King of America under his real name, Declan Patrick MacManus, gathering together some of the finest backing musicians in the business, including T Bone Burnett, James Burton, Ray Brown and his regular band, The Attractions (Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas and Pete Thomas), and everyone involved does a commendable job.
But it's Costello's songwriting that's the real star, thematically running the gamut from marital infidelity to child abuse to just plain revenge.
There are also a couple of Bob Dylan-sounding songs that cut anything old Zimmerman has done in years, especially the great "Glitter Gulch." And "Eisenhower Blues," actually a cover, makes one think it's 1966 again and Dylan is at the top of his craft.
The Attractions aren't heard of much this time out. In fact they're only together as a group on one song out of the 15, but this is probably just a move to escape the stagnation that had set in on the last album, Goodbye Cruel World.
But the worst is over. Mixing witty country rock and folk music with classic supper club ballads, King of America re-establishes Elvis Costello as one of rock's true geniuses.
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