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The angry ex-computer-operator has marshalled his rock and roll forces for his next assault on North America.
Calculated aggression is Costello's strength, but he is too shrewd to squander his fierceness. Reportedly he wanted to call his third album Emotional Fascism but settled on the present title as more acceptable. Like a good general, he seems to understand the effect of his every move, and keeps advancing without ever losing command.
His titles sound like attacks: "Two Little Hitlers," "Goon Squad," "Big Boys," "Moods for Moderns." But Costello stalks his subjects rather than charging ' them. Whether cynical, outraged or morose, the new set of songs have been thoroughly plotted — whatever rawness or crudity he pounds into the songs are clearly part of his strategy.
This Year's Model, released last year, scarily suggested suggested this original talent would settle for formula effect. Armed Forces, reassuringly, regains some of the urgency of his early work.
By now his studio work is naturally smoother, while avoiding a rigid order that could have sent the songs off into meaningless drill.
I particularly like the acrid humor of "Accidents Will Happen" the best, with Costello somehow managing to suggest the uptown teenage slickness that Phil Spector gave to that Crystals-Ronettes pack of groups in the early 1960s.
Bonus: An "extended play" disc, the 45-size record to be played at 33, far more common in England. It's a live recording of "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives" from Hollywood High, and the mere thought of this acidic English disturber in the bright sun and tinsel sensibility of California should be good for a few songs in the future. Certainly it issues a pretty attractive invitation for Costello's concert in Detroit at Masonic Auditorium March 16.
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