Elvis Costello's ninth album is somewhat of a disappointment: it's just as good as the rest of them, no better or worse. Fellow fans: we just have to resolve ourselves to the fact that Costello will always be the music critic's darling and it's very unlikely we'll ever hear a bad song by him; let alone a bad album. Costello haters: this album won't convert you.
Imperial Bedroom had Nick Lowe and others calling him the Cole Porter of the eighties and I heard a D.J. saying that his horn section and female back-up vocals on the new Punch the Clock suggests a leaning toward Motown. After nine superb albums, it's time to quit comparing him to others.
Punch the Clock opens with the saucy "Let Them All Talk" which might be a jabbing retort to the Go-Gos' "Our Lips Are Sealed." (That wasn't a comparison.) Other showstoppers utilizing the horns are "The Greatest Thing" and "The World and His Wife."
Costello's wit comes on extra-strong on this album. Witness "The Element Within Her." He spends much of the song singing pretty "La la la la las" and the closing line goes "I say 'Are you cold?' / She says 'No, but you are la'." "Love Went Mad" has a line: "With those vulgar fractions of the treble clef / I wish you luck with a capital 'F'." He's even back into politics with the songs- "Shipbuilding" and "Pills And Soap." Their meaning is hard to grasp at first but careful contemplation will eventually reward you.
Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley of Stranglers and Madness fame produced this album. They've given the album a good party-mix keeping the horns and Bruce Thomas' great bass out front while often putting Steve Nieve's excessive keyboard flourishes in the background.
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