Armed Forces

I was just reading Sean T. Collins' music posts on his blog and remembered that I was supposed to be on this Costello jag, so...quickly...

Listened to Armed Forces this morning, the third EC album, second with The Attractions. As with many third albums, it's a transitional one, ambitious in spots, underdeveloped in others. "Accidents Will Happen" kicks things off and I think it's one of his best pop songs. Like Dylan does in story songs like "Tangled Up in Blue", it's a bit confusing how EC fits into the narrative. It's about a "silly cham-pi-on" strung along and seduced by a girl, but then why does EC beat himself up over "what (I've) done"? The most significant difference in the sound is that EC affects a less nasal, strident tone for one that's sweeter and more relaxed, not even as nakedly plaintive as "Alison", and that's partly due to more reverb in the vocal. There's more room in this song and the rest of the disc for musical flourishes--piano solos, strings, bass guitar noodling--and the band and arrangements are strong enough to support this. "Senior Service" is unfortunately, a throwback song already, at track two: some nice dubby effects and reverbed vocals don't quite save it, though the line about "they took me in the office and they told me very carefully/the way that I could benefit from death and disability" is good, and there's a certain raw charm to the refrain about chopping off someone's head and watching it roll into a basket. The song equates corporate mentality with ruthless military mentality and hierarchy, with iffy results. I'm too poor a student of history to quite know who "Oliver's Army" are unless it's a reference to Cromwell in a more modern setting, but it's still the second best song on the album and still in EC's top 40, I'd say. His phrasing here has some 50s elements to it. "Big Boys" is a fairly clever lyric about puberty and dating, with a good, thuggish musical backing. "Green Shirt" uses a drum machine for once, along with a fade-out synth horn solo, so it sounds dated, and the lyrics, inspired by a vapid newscaster, are pretty standard EC paranoia by now ("She's listening in/to the Venus line/she's picking out names/I hope none of them are mine"). "Party Girl" has hit-and-miss lyrics, too (I like "griplike vise" but it doesn't mean anything) but the music is very good, clearly copping a chord progression from somewhere around "Golden Slumbers" or "Carry That Weight" from Abbey Road and riding it as far as it will go. "I can give you anything but time" is a solid refrain, not especially deep but with those chords you can sing "I'd like a vodka and lime" a dozen times and the listener will get very thirsty. "Busy Bodies", eh. EC obviously likes to write in notebooks words or phrases that may have some additional meaning beyond the one intended, and sometimes it works and sometimes not. This is just about people in the cycle of dating and sex but not really enjoying or appreciating life. Rhyming "meaner" and "concertina" isn't much of a highlight, and the synth is grating. "Sunday's Best" is a slightly deranged waltz sort of about racism, and a severed head makes another appearance (that doesn't make the album The Voice of the Fire, though). "Moods for Moderns" is catchy in spots but really dumb and thrown together ("I get hit looking for a Miss"). "Chemistry Class" is another look at sex and romance, this time with chemistry-related words. This is a certain kind of EC song where he's coming onto a woman in a way that makes the listener think he really hates her, or women in general. He's attracted to her, yet repulsed by her flightiness and stupidity, and then in order to use the chemical term "solution" he asks if she's ready for "the final solution". And you know, Nazi references make getting laid a real kampf, if you know what I mean. Speaking of which, "Two Little Hitlers" is the next track, and despite the title, it's a bit more clever than expected. I like how "You flick the switch and the world goes off" can be read as either Armageddon or just getting down with someone in the dark.

That's the album proper. Bonus tracks are the classic "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding, which I sang along to in Bill Murray fashion. Nick Lowe actually wrote this one but EC owns it, you know? That happens sometimes. The magic is that the lyrics are very straightforward as opposed to EC's fussiness and word games, and the Attractions could always rock. "My Funny Valentine" is a short cover of the standard--see the late 90s limited edition Costello & Nieve live box set for an arguably better but slower take. "Tiny Steps" is a good b-side--really sneering delivery of creepy lyrics. "She's almost human/Beneath your Cuban heel" sounds painful. "She" is either an actual child or the girlfriend--it's hard to tell. "Clean Money" is an early version of "Love For Tender" from the next disc, GET HAPPY! This is a more raucous version, not necessarily better but fun. "Talking in the Dark" may be either a Dave Edmunds-penned song or one EC wrote for Edmunds-can't remember. It's a simple boy-loses-girl song that doesn't overstay its welcome. "Wednesday Week" is an energetic mess like "Moods for Moderns", but it at least points the way towards some production/arrangement ideas EC would work out more in GET HAPPY! and especially the Beatlesque IMPERIAL BEDROOM. The disc is rounded out with the "Live From Hollywood High" EP, which I guess is EC & The Attractions playing a high school prom for a few cuts: an emotive, piano-driven "Accidents Will Happen"--odd but maybe appropriate choice for a prom; "Alison" and a pretty hot "Watching the Detectives" to finally get the kids onto the dancefloor to, well, jerk around awkwardly.