There ain’t nobody like Elvis but Elvis. And I don’t mean Presley.
Elvis Costello is a singular figure in the history of pop music, encapsulating the purest forms of aloof cool, punk sneering, and pop songcraft.
But knowing him mostly as a new wave icon, I was surprised to hear that one of his most highly regarded albums is a piece of orchestral chamber pop.
The same year Clapton was putting together a collection of mediocre excuses for guitar solos called Slowhand that (let’s be honest) probably sounded dated upon its release, something else was brewing in London.
That something else was a young man named Elvis Costello who called in sick to his day job to record his debut album, which has become an undisputed classic.
From the Jackson Pollock style cover to Costello’s crooning, Armed Forces is an album as cool as Costello himself, what with his thick rimmed glasses, pompadour, and suit-and-tie–a coolness that comes from practically eschewing the whole idea of coolness.