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For a more low-key change of pace, Elvis Costello's 12th studio LP, Spike (Warner Bros.), may be his most ambitious work to date, but having dispensed with the Attractions almost altogether (save for a few brief appearances by drummer Pete Thomas), Costello's new maturity comes at the expense of the exciting one-two punch of his previous work. Here it's the Dirty Dozen Brass Band who provide the extra bit of zest where horns offer vigor to the quirky pop of "Chewing Gum" and colors the chorus of the ballad "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror." Further, the Brass Band gets a showcase all their own on the instrumental "Stalin Malone," although the song is slightly out of place here.
Costello benefits from a prominent guest star list — Roger McGuinn's familiar 12-string guitar livens up "This Town," Paul McCartney plays the occasional bass and collaborates with Costello on a few numbers here (the so-so "Veronica" and the much better "Pads, Paws And Claws" with its slapping drum anchor), and Chrissie Hynde lends some harmony vocal on "Satellite," a piece of pleasant leisurely pop.
Costello's lyrics are wordy, at times inscrutable, but a few concrete themes peek through, among them an old fashioned anti-capital punishment tale "Let Him Dangle" and a positively acidic attack on Margaret Thatcher on "Tramp The Dirt Down," one of the record's best songs. A lovely Irish ballad with Uileann pipes and glockenspiel accompaniment, the tune's musical subtlety is in marked contrast to the mean-spirited lyrics which hold the prime minister responsible for all of England's latter-day woes. Closest in spirit to Costello's 1986 King Of America, another ballad-heavy LP, Spike continues his straight-ahead musical progression and, judging by the sound of things, he's not looking back.
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