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Elvis Costello is a rocking paradox, biting the hand that feeds him while using it to get his alternately romantic and nihilistic message across.
In less than two years, Costello has established himself as a rock's brightest newcomer, advancing from a street-corner audition for CBS Records executives in London to his third American tour next month.
His third album, Armed Forces (Columbia JC 35709), gives evidence that Costello is no one-shot wonder. His talent grows with each outing; the polish on the new material is more lustrous than before, though the sting remains in the songs.
Costello is a guerrilla rocker, subverting from within through compelling tunes with biting lyrics. A number like "Oliver's Army" captivates with its melodic approach until the realization hits that this is a theme song for mercenaries, glorifying the life of the soldier of fortune.
A former computer programmer, Costello emerged suddenly at the end of 1977 with a bang-up debut album that coincided with the brief burst of punk rock. Because of his minimalist approach and his traditionalist rock sound, Costello was classified as a member of the movement, a punk rocker or New Waver. They were labels which he not only rejected but proved inaccurate with a second album, This Year's Model, which expanded upon the sound of the first.
That sound combines elements of a host of groups, from the Beatles to Little Richard to Chuck Berry, synthesizing them into a heady brew that supports Costello's pointed lyrics.
His lyrics draw on surliness, sentimentality and political cynicism; Costello is downright nasty, whether he is excoriating his native Britain for its muddled social state or tongue-lashing a lover for infidelity or fickleness.
Costello's music seethes with repressed fury. His songs embody the anxieties of modern romance ("Moods for Moderns") and the frustrations of love ignored. The tension of the music explodes off the record.
Yet there is humor, even cleverness to otherwise scathing lyrics. He loves to twist a phrase: "It's the death much worse than fate," in "Senior Service," "Your mouth is made up and your mind is undone," from "Accidents Will Happen."
The musical quotes are also humorous. The driving organ on "Moods for Moderns" recalls the playfulness of "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs; Bobby Fuller's "I Fought the Law" tickles the ear on the opening power chords of Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding."
But Costello is serious here. His record company had to convince him not to name this album Emotional Fascism, an indication of the sternness of Costello's vision.
As in 1978, Costello has started the year with the album to measure up to for the rest of 1979. It is a hard-rocking, hard-edged effort that firmly places Costello among the major musical forces of the late 1970s.
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