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Elvis Costello gets cute on his latest release Punch The Clock.
He sings on "T.K.O. (Boxing Dayl": "They put the numb into number they put the cut into cutie / They put the slum into slumber and the boot into beauty." Sure this is clever, but as one reviewer noted. naggingly so "like a smart-ass kid tugging on your shirttail."
Elvis makes extensive use of horns and female backups for the first time. While the female backups are a nice addition especially on "Everyday I Write The Book," the trumped-up charges of the horns are an added distraction, as if Elvis were trying to cover up for the weakness of the lyrics.
If some of the songs are nothing more than smug exercises in songwriting, there are a few standout cuts where Elvis hones his satirical wit to its sharpest point ever.
On "Pills And Soap," Elvis zaps the media right between its electric eyes: "They talked to the sister, the father and the mother / With a microphone in one hand and a chequebook in the other."
And on "The World And His Wife," Elvis takes a penetrating look at family recreation: "The little girl you dangled on your knee without mishap / Stirs something in your memory / And something in your lap."
However these songs are the exceptions and not the rule. For all his pugnacious posturing on Punch The Clock, Elvis rarely hits his target. Instead, he batters the listener with a barrage of cantankerous horns and a flurry of ever-so-cute lyrics.
Rating: 3 stars or "C"
Best Cuts: "Pills And Soap" and "The World And His Wife."
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