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Elvis Costello's newest release is called Trust. Not surprisingly, it's mostly about deceit — white lies, two-faced talk, unkept promises and delusions of musical, sexual and political grandeur. Images of the lame tough guy are all over the album. So are warnings to keep quiet. All this from a man who makes his living from words and who has developed a reputation for nastiness. When Elvis sings "I don't mean to be mean much anymore" on "Pretty Words," however, don't believe him for a minute. The music may not be as vicious as on This Year's Model or My Aim Is True, but the sentiments are as caustic as ever.
Living with the album for a few weeks now, many of the lyrics remain elusive. "Clubland" and "Luxembourg" are the most obscure. Both seem to be about the physical and emotional strains of the struggling and then successful musician. (Trust might even be seen by some as a playing out of Elvis' obsession with success and his audience.)
"Luxembourg," the album's hardest rocker, will take years to untangle and sounds in many ways like a cut from the Stones' Exile On Main Street, with the same murky vocals and track.
"Different Finger" follows from "Radio Sweetheart" and "Stranger In the House," Costello's flirtations with country music. A would-be lover pleads with his anonymous married partner to remove her rings so that he can have his "one night of glory." "Watch Your Step" borrows slightly from "Secondary Modern" with slightly less menace. The or else is implied, not stated.
"You'll Never Be A Man" picks up on the ambivalence of "You Belong To Me" and "The Beat." The latter's "I don't want to be your lover, I just want to be your victim" has become "I don't want to be first, I just want to last."
"From A Whisper to A Scream" and "Fish 'N' Chip Paper" are lightweight rave-ups, the second proving Costello has more to say about the papers with humor than Joe Jackson does with feigned anger.
On Elvis Costello and the Attractions at the Palladium and the Capitol theater, The Palladium set was cleaner. The Capitol more energized. The Capitol's sound mix cut out the highs and mushed the Attractions into an impenetrable mess for the most part. Costello's sense of detail got all but lost. Though Trust arrived only a few days before Elvis did, he emphasized the new songs at both shows. He opened and closed each with "Shot With His Own Gun" and "Big Sister's Clothes" forcing the audience to deal with the new material, though most cheered harder for old favorites like "Radio, Radio," "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives."
At the Capitol especially, Costello and the Attractions set out to prove they could do anything — country ("He's Got You"), blues ("I Need Your Love So Bad"); and reggae ("Walk and Don't Look Back") — as well as their own stuff They could.
On the face of it the 1978 Armed Forces Tour had more firepower. Costello himself was leaner and the music had more bite. With Get Happy and Trust, Costello's anger has become less obvious, the music less terrifying. Elvis can still rock out savagely, as he did on "Radio, Radio," "Big Tears" and "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding," but while built earlier shows to a definite frenzy, this time around he kept putting the audience back in their seats with new and unfamiliar tunes. Those who went solely to dance were disappointed. Costello wanted everyone to listen.
The Attractions have never gotten enough press. Steve Nieve's unbeatable on keyboards. Reaching from classical through carnival, Nieve keeps the audience appropriately off-balance on everything but the simpler rockers. On bass and drums, Pete and Bruce Thomas maintain the control so central to Costello's music without forgetting it's rock 'n' roll after all. Like Nieve, each also has his bag of intriguing fills. Martin Belmont, a guitarist borrowed from the Rumour filled out several times admirably. Costello himself soloed once at the Palladium and stretched out thrice at the Capitol, but generally restricted himself to a rhythm function. His vocals remain the focus. Like his lyrics, Costello's singing has increased in range dynamics. He still puts out as much as ever.
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