Music Banter - View Single Post - Bulldog's Armchair Guide To Elvis Costello

Bulldog · 12-02-2008, 04:26 PM

Punch the Clock
1983, F-Beat Records, Air Studios

You know when a prolific artist decides it's best to drop the kind of songwriting values they once held dear and pander to the masses with a fluffy, silky and accessible album? This is one of those moments.

For fear of being known for the gloomy cynicism of his previous songs, Elvis Costello not only wrote some bright pop songs to take into the studio, but he also enlisted the help of the Clive Langer/Alan Winstanley production partnership to help in shaping the sounding of a more chart-friendly album. Having produced hits by Dexy's Midnight Runners and Madness, this was a task the pair were more than up for, which involved the employment of the TKO Horns and the backing singers of Afrodiziak on their part. Another thing worth mentioning is that 'Clanger and Winstanley' were big advocates of the 'building block' production technique, whereby the finished song concerned would maintain as little resemblance as possible to the original demo version. It's a particular ethic which really does show here.

Consequently we have a very dated, hit-and-miss album, but let's get into all that as I start to yammer on about the tracks...

1. Let Them All Talk
One of the more obvious cases of Costello's new approach both lyrically and musically, this bright, cheery pop song revolves around a prominent horn figure, providing an interesting backdrop to an unusually optimistic and naive lyric. Hardly a bad song, but nothing really worth writing home about. 7/10

2. Everyday I Write the Book
Smooth and clean, like gasoline, this slick pop song is quite unlike anything Costello had recorded before (or perhaps even since). Any rough edges on this soulful number have clearly been sanded down nicely by the production techniques used and polished 'til you can see your face in it. Again, in spite of having dated quite a bit, it's not what I'd call a genuinely bad song. Judge for yourself I guess. 7/10

3. The Greatest Thing
And here's where the album starts to get itself into trouble. Another cheery pop song, the quickfire vocal delivery and gunshot percussion therein really don't do it any favours. 2/10

4. The Element Within Her
Another attempt at a catchy, jovial sort of sound, this piece of fluff is well below-par for the pretty much the same reasons as the Greatest Thing. 2/10

5. Love Went Mad
Driven by decent flourishes of piano and a well-worked chorus this, another catchy and upbeat tune, rises above the mire of the two which preceded considerably. It's a bit more like it in other words. 6/10

6. Shipbuilding
Written by Clive Langer and Costello for Robert Wyatt (which is why his version predates this one), the original rendition of a truly brilliant song easily stands up with its other working in terms of quality. A great slice of anti-Thatcherist angst preceded by probably my favourite ever piano intro. Worth getting the album for this alone. 10/10

7. TKO (Boxing Day)
As the title may suggest, this here's another song which revolves around a TKO horn figure. Despite its chart-friendly demeanour, it's one of the more sinister and somewhat darker moments of the record ('it's a fight to the finish let there be no doubt, as the seconds turn to minutes I can count you out' certainly makes it seem that way to me). 6/10

8. Charm School
With this song it's almost as if there's a conflict between Costello's songwriting and the production style. From listening to just the opening 30 seconds, it's clear to see that this song was intended to be a slow, acoustic ballad, which is in turn almost drowned out by the heavy-handed production style. That and the fact that it's a pretty weak piece of songwriting make it a whole lot less interesting. 3/10

9. The Invisible Man
One more song which was clearly written with a horn section in mind, like TKO it again sounds slightly more sinister than a lot of its bedfellows (well, as sinister as a brass-driven pop song can get anyway). Not so bad but, as with a lot of this album, not so good either. 5/10

10. Mouth Almighty
Date-stamped with the early 80s and slightly over-produced as it may be, this punchy and catchy number is another one of the better moments here, extracting as it does some good performances from the Attractions as a backing band which help it to rise above the less memorable cuts somewhat. 6/10

11. King Of Thieves
The same can be said here. This interesting tale of a blacklisted writer is backed up again by a good band performance (underpinned by a decently repetitive piano chord from Steve Nieve) and makes for a nice little pop song, as the album rises towards its climax. 7/10

12. Pills and Soap
Along with Shipbuilding, Pills and Soap is another stylistic stand-out from the rest of Punch the Clock. Propelled by a doomy piano chord from Nieve and Costello's deadpan vocal delivery this really is a very good song indeed (owing no small favour to Grandmaster Flash's the Message). 8/10

13. The World and His Wife
And it's all capped off by a dizzy, jovial knees-up of a song. Possibly the most uplifting item in Costello's back-catalogue, it boasts a brass arrangement which doesn't actually intrude on the song for a change, as well as a wonderfully memorable chorus. Great way to end the album. 9/10

The Outtakes.

Heathen Town: A brilliant song this. Christ knows why it never made the album.

The Flirting Kind: The same can't be said for this fairly unspectacular cut though.

Baby Pictures: Written at the same time as Shot With His Own Gun from Trust, it's interesting to hear Costello try and imitate the vocal stylings of some bloke called David Bowie.

So, summing up then...
It's fair to say that the Clanger and Winstanley 'building block' technique did a lot more harm than good to this album (this kind of over-cooking dating the end product somewhat), but even if it was presented as a rootsy, acoustic album as it probably should have been, there was clear indication that Costello's songwriting was finally starting to get weaker as he neared 'that 80s phase' as a lot of his contemporaries did. I can stand it and, depending on my mood, get through most of the tracks, but when all's said and done it's not really a very good album.

4/10

12-02-2008, 04:26 PM	#27 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	Punch the Clock 1983, F-Beat Records, Air Studios You know when a prolific artist decides it's best to drop the kind of songwriting values they once held dear and pander to the masses with a fluffy, silky and accessible album? This is one of those moments. For fear of being known for the gloomy cynicism of his previous songs, Elvis Costello not only wrote some bright pop songs to take into the studio, but he also enlisted the help of the Clive Langer/Alan Winstanley production partnership to help in shaping the sounding of a more chart-friendly album. Having produced hits by Dexy's Midnight Runners and Madness, this was a task the pair were more than up for, which involved the employment of the TKO Horns and the backing singers of Afrodiziak on their part. Another thing worth mentioning is that 'Clanger and Winstanley' were big advocates of the 'building block' production technique, whereby the finished song concerned would maintain as little resemblance as possible to the original demo version. It's a particular ethic which really does show here. Consequently we have a very dated, hit-and-miss album, but let's get into all that as I start to yammer on about the tracks... 1. Let Them All Talk One of the more obvious cases of Costello's new approach both lyrically and musically, this bright, cheery pop song revolves around a prominent horn figure, providing an interesting backdrop to an unusually optimistic and naive lyric. Hardly a bad song, but nothing really worth writing home about. 7/10 2. Everyday I Write the Book Smooth and clean, like gasoline, this slick pop song is quite unlike anything Costello had recorded before (or perhaps even since). Any rough edges on this soulful number have clearly been sanded down nicely by the production techniques used and polished 'til you can see your face in it. Again, in spite of having dated quite a bit, it's not what I'd call a genuinely bad song. Judge for yourself I guess. 7/10 3. The Greatest Thing And here's where the album starts to get itself into trouble. Another cheery pop song, the quickfire vocal delivery and gunshot percussion therein really don't do it any favours. 2/10 4. The Element Within Her Another attempt at a catchy, jovial sort of sound, this piece of fluff is well below-par for the pretty much the same reasons as the Greatest Thing. 2/10 5. Love Went Mad Driven by decent flourishes of piano and a well-worked chorus this, another catchy and upbeat tune, rises above the mire of the two which preceded considerably. It's a bit more like it in other words. 6/10 6. Shipbuilding Written by Clive Langer and Costello for Robert Wyatt (which is why his version predates this one), the original rendition of a truly brilliant song easily stands up with its other working in terms of quality. A great slice of anti-Thatcherist angst preceded by probably my favourite ever piano intro. Worth getting the album for this alone. 10/10 7. TKO (Boxing Day) As the title may suggest, this here's another song which revolves around a TKO horn figure. Despite its chart-friendly demeanour, it's one of the more sinister and somewhat darker moments of the record ('it's a fight to the finish let there be no doubt, as the seconds turn to minutes I can count you out' certainly makes it seem that way to me). 6/10 8. Charm School With this song it's almost as if there's a conflict between Costello's songwriting and the production style. From listening to just the opening 30 seconds, it's clear to see that this song was intended to be a slow, acoustic ballad, which is in turn almost drowned out by the heavy-handed production style. That and the fact that it's a pretty weak piece of songwriting make it a whole lot less interesting. 3/10 9. The Invisible Man One more song which was clearly written with a horn section in mind, like TKO it again sounds slightly more sinister than a lot of its bedfellows (well, as sinister as a brass-driven pop song can get anyway). Not so bad but, as with a lot of this album, not so good either. 5/10 10. Mouth Almighty Date-stamped with the early 80s and slightly over-produced as it may be, this punchy and catchy number is another one of the better moments here, extracting as it does some good performances from the Attractions as a backing band which help it to rise above the less memorable cuts somewhat. 6/10 11. King Of Thieves The same can be said here. This interesting tale of a blacklisted writer is backed up again by a good band performance (underpinned by a decently repetitive piano chord from Steve Nieve) and makes for a nice little pop song, as the album rises towards its climax. 7/10 12. Pills and Soap Along with Shipbuilding, Pills and Soap is another stylistic stand-out from the rest of Punch the Clock. Propelled by a doomy piano chord from Nieve and Costello's deadpan vocal delivery this really is a very good song indeed (owing no small favour to Grandmaster Flash's the Message). 8/10 13. The World and His Wife And it's all capped off by a dizzy, jovial knees-up of a song. Possibly the most uplifting item in Costello's back-catalogue, it boasts a brass arrangement which doesn't actually intrude on the song for a change, as well as a wonderfully memorable chorus. Great way to end the album. 9/10 The Outtakes. Heathen Town: A brilliant song this. Christ knows why it never made the album. The Flirting Kind: The same can't be said for this fairly unspectacular cut though. Baby Pictures: Written at the same time as Shot With His Own Gun from Trust, it's interesting to hear Costello try and imitate the vocal stylings of some bloke called David Bowie. So, summing up then... It's fair to say that the Clanger and Winstanley 'building block' technique did a lot more harm than good to this album (this kind of over-cooking dating the end product somewhat), but even if it was presented as a rootsy, acoustic album as it probably should have been, there was clear indication that Costello's songwriting was finally starting to get weaker as he neared 'that 80s phase' as a lot of his contemporaries did. I can stand it and, depending on my mood, get through most of the tracks, but when all's said and done it's not really a very good album. 4/10 Last edited by Bulldog; 12-03-2008 at 03:02 AM.