I had 9-12 in the can, just did 13. I'll just let it rip, sorry if it seems self-absorbed to do them in single posts, but it's how it would've been anyway, had the board not gone for a few days. Backlog's getting cleared out.
Costello #11: Blood and Chocolate (1986) Truth be told, when I asked about Costello on these message boards, got referred to I Want You, and threw the track on, I was totally skeptical of Costello and my idea to do this marathon. Not that I thought the song was bad, no sane lover of modern pop and rock could think as such, but I was concerned that the high-energy, firebrand poet I knew from the first quartet of albums was sapped of such verve. I thought he was “maturing,” which is a term I usually associate with an act that’s losing its raison d’etre, but still has a profit motive to keep putting out music. That’s the level of ignorance you can possess when you don’t follow examinations and explorations of a career or catalog through to the end, which is probably something it’s good for everyone to consider when they’re going step up and give an opinion on something in which they’re only half-versed. (Granted, I think there are things that are dumb, mass-produced, trite, superficial, or clearly done for the LCD (least common deniminator) that you can denounce a little more off-hand, but yeah, Elvis Costello isn’t that.)
In King of America, Costello utilized the sounds of Americana as if he were taking us on a tour of the classic sound of America past and present, while also previewing the future “indie-rock” through a subset of sounds that would play its influence. Then, with Blood & Chocolate, he got back with Nick Lowe and The Attractions and merged power pop, classic rock, rhythm & blues, and Americana to make that CINECAST!ing indie-rock album. Like, no shit. That dirty electric guitar riff that starts Uncomplicated, followed by Costello beltin’ out “Blood and chocolate / I hope you’re satisfied what you’ve done / You think it’s over / But we’ve only just begun.” Like, CINECAST! yeah, Elvis. And B&C makes good on the bold opener big time. Tokyo Storm Warning’s lyrics are a futuristic fever dream containing KKK conventions and robots telling fortunes, over a classic Costello perpetual music machine that is fleshed-out - as all these tracks are - to its fullest potential. In the past, Costello gave you a set of two-to-three minute energetic, maximalist songs that never gave in and never let up, and he made many good-to-great albums with that, but on Blood & Chocolate (and surely King of America, as well) his lyrics more effectively build and destroy worlds, he gets every little variation from his keyboard parts, and lets his guitars rock on a bit. It has a bit of a looser feel, though always staying tight enough to avoid becoming jam-my or, really, anything but tunes from a man who’s still a detailed-oriented perfectionist. He’s just letting ideas evolve a little more now. All of which brings us back ‘round to I Want You, which begins as one thing, kind of a sweet folky love song, before morphing into something a little more sinister. That CINECAST!ing guitar riff is liable to cut your throat at any point in time, while the bass colors the lows in a moody and threatening vibe. (This is actually how I like describing music, so much better than talking about ascending keys, distortion, crescendos, reverb, things being bright, minor key, etc. Earl Sweatshirt, a wonderful DIY rapper/producer who made some of the best rap of the 10’s, says he associates his beats with colors. I feel that. Anyhow.) The poetic repetitions in the lyrics maintain an unhinged feel, coming toward the end with, “I want you / You’ve had your fun, you don’t get well no more / I want you / No one who wants you could want more.” Not going to ruin the very final lyrics, but...concern is warranted, but as a listen, it’s delicious, captivating, and basically perfect.
I haven’t even hit Side B, and I’ve had more than a few cups of coffee here. I’m not doing a full album review, or I will not get to anything else on the docket today. I shall just say that Blood & Chocolate, as well as the prior King of America, are part of a larger tradition of rock, Americana, and post-punk that would lay the groundwork for some of my favorite artists of the 90’s and 00’s. You always hear The Beatles referenced when people talk of the song-craft of Elliott Smith, but I hear just as much, if not more Costello, especially in the song structure of the more rocking tunes on XO and Figure 8. Pavement are their own beast, one of the greatest rock bands ever, but they are also undoubtedly indebted to Americana and roots rock, sounds that they took from lo-fi to progressive indie-rock with psychedelic flourishes. Stephen Malkmus may be some CINECAST!ing slacker, but listen to the core, including his smart and witty lyrics, and undeniably this period’s Costello is part of the format. I think people tend to overplay influences and make every other band out to be some cheap Beatles’ copycats, but it’s often incredibly complicated, and we often get it wrong. But Elliott Smith, Pavement, Arcade Fire, Ya La Tengo, Band of Horses, they were next in line, some debuting not too long after Blood & Chocolate. They have done incredible things (and Costello still makes music, too!), taken music to new heights, yet are still part of the lineage where, if you look back, just a little, I think you see the name “Elvis Costello”. I am not sure that happens just off the success of the first four, to be honest. And I’m not sure how many artists could reinvent and renew themselves as Costello did, especially considering Albums 8 and 9. He really pulled something off, here.