Elvis Costello And The Attractions - Armed Forces

After releasing and touring the intense This Year's Model, Elvis Costello quickly returned to the studio with the Attractions to record his third album, Armed Forces. In contrast to the stripped-down pop and rock of his first two albums, Armed Forces boasted a detailed and textured pop production, but it was hardly lavish. However, the more spacious arrangements (complete with ringing pianos, echoing reverb, layered guitars, and harmonies) accent Costello's melodies, making the record more accessible than his first two albums. Perversely, while the sound of Costello's music was becoming more open and welcoming, his songs became more insular and paranoid, even though he cloaked his emotions well. Many of the songs on Armed Forces use politics as a metaphor for personal relationships, particularly fascism, which explains its working title, Emotional Fascism. Occasionally, the lyrics are forced, but the music never is; the album demonstrates the depth of Costello's compositional talents and how he can move from the hook-laden pop of "Accidents Will Happen" to the paranoid "Goon Squad" with ease. Some of the songs, like the light reggae of "Two Little Hitler’s" and the impassioned "Party Girl," build on his strengths, while others like the layered "Oliver's Army" take Costello into new territories. It's a dense but accessible pop record and ranks as his third masterpiece in a row.

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

Once upon a time, being a bitter, frustrated male musician didn't mean being a jerkass. Perpetually wronged and rarely laid men were capable of being intelligent about their bitterness, focusing their anger not on the whole of womankind, but on particular women (usually flirts and teases) and attacking these women with a potent blend of wit and bile. Yeah, these gentlemen were angry, but they were smart enough to know what they were angry at-- and geeky enough to include themselves in that category. At the helm of this trend towards new-wave geekdom was Stiff Records, a small label operating out of England with a roster including Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, and the mighty Elvis Costello. With his 1977 debut, My Aim Is True, Costello exploded onto the punk/new-wave scene like a mutant hybrid of Buddy Holly and Johnny Rotten. He had the seething contempt of a punk, but a transparent intelligence, sensitivity, and melodic sense that made him much more interesting than many of his contemporaries. Punks didn't give a fuck; Elvis was sensitive enough to not only give a fuck, but smart enough to be pissed off and disturbed by that fuck. On My Aim Is True, Elvis' raw energy comes through in a way that's never completely recaptured on later records. While the songs range from mellow country twang to full-on, spitting assault, there's a strange cohesiveness to the album simply by virtue of its rough, rushed feel. Although it's a studio album, there's a latent energy to Nick Lowe's production that grants My Aim Is True all the immediacy of a live show.

While Lowe's blunt production certainly enhances the record, the real star here, naturally, is Elvis himself. But rather than being gratuitously hateful or aggressive, Elvis treats his bitterness like a fine wine, letting a complex bouquet of anger, doubt, and pity shine through. Wordy, witty, and geeky as fuck, My Aim Is True is without question one of the finest statements of brilliant nerddom ever to be released.

By Matt LeMay