Description
Brutal Youth (1994) reunited Costello with the Attractions (and occasional substitute bassist Nick Lowe) in an ambitious attempt to link the experimental impulses of Spike and Mighty Like a Rose to the outfit’s controlled careen. While peers such as Sting disappeared further up their own precocity, Costello mined both the fanciful (his jokes are actually funny) and enraged. From the opening shots of “Pony St.” and “Kinder Murder,” he assuredly moves through the pub R&B of “Clown Strike,” the art-song trappings of “Still Too Soon to Know,” and the Trust-style classicism of “Sulky Girl” (“Hold your tongue / Although I know you’ve never been that strong”) and “You Tripped at Every Step.” Often majestic, the record occasionally feels mannered–an alternate version of the ballad “Favourite Hour” included on this 2002 reissue as a bonus track is much less lumbering than the take that closes the album proper–but remains a casualty of audience indifference. Almost anyone who missed it the first time around will find moments to add to their list of Costello treasures. –Rickey Wright
