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When all else fails, get back to your roots. It's a time-honored rock 'n' roll strategy, and it works pretty well for Elvis Costello as he reunites with his longtime backing band, the Attractions. For the first time since 1986's Blood & Chocolate, Costello returns to the tightly wound punkish pop that made him (relatively) famous.
He's even shaved his beard, lost a few pounds and fished out his dark-rimmed glasses.
Make no mistake, "all else" has not failed. Although he's been in a commercial limbo since well before he parted ways with drummer Pete Thomas, keyboard player Steve Nieve and bassist Bruce Thomas, Costello has had some artistic triumphs, from the rootsy Spike to an adventurous pairing in 1992 with the Brodsky Quartet, a string ensemble.
But those efforts have only reached his smaller, devoted audience, being more subtle and less hook-oriented than his Attractions work.
Since drummer Thomas has been an occasional member of Costello's other bands and estranged bassist Bruce Thomas appears on only one-third of this album, the missing link that makes Brutal Youth an Attractions work is keyboard player Nieve. His roller-rink organ and twee harpsichord fills on tracks like "My Science Fiction Twin" will tug the heartstrings of anyone who bought This Year's Model in 1978 when it was new.
On the other hand, this is no This Year's Model, or even Trust. Anyone looking for classic Costello will be pleased but not thrilled, and most younger listeners who hear it fresh may be tempted to wonder what all the fuss was about the first time around.
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