★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Elvis Costello's idol and collaborator is not someone I ever paid attention to much, despite being a superfan of the Little Hands of Concrete. This is yet another in a series of albums that showed my I came to my senses much too late. This is a spectacular album, full of wit, pop hooks, and occasional weirdness. I loved the eclectic virtuosity of the album, from swaggering pub rock to crooning ("You Make Me") New Wave pop to country-rock ("Without Love") to modern folk (Endless Grey Ribbon"). "Switchboard Susie" is a litany of telephone-related sexual double entendres; I was hugely tickled by the wit it displays, and so was somewhat disappointed to find out it's a cover song. Favorite tracks: "Cruel To Be Kind," "American Squirm," "Switchboard Susan," "Without Love."
