His Aim Is True

I have a tremendous amount of admiration for Elvis Costello. I cannot think of an artist who has been as consistently prolific throughout the decades. Musicians often reach their peak, fade into obscurity, make pathetic comebacks attempts, and then lose most vestiges of their once prevailing relevance. Not Elvis. After the much-anticipated "forced" March reissue of This Year's Model, Costello this month released Momofuku -- his first new album with The Impostors since 2004's The Delivery Man. I always get excited when I hear new Elvis songs, particularly because you never know what you are going to get. In this case, we are given an album named after the inventor of instant noodles. And yes, I'm dead serious.

A clear roots-rock aficionado often known for his collaborations, Costello is at it again on this record -- this time working with Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley fame), who contributes backing vocals on most of the tracks. As expected, we get some excellent songwriting and a combination of slow songs mixed with some pretty solid rockers. The album kicks off with "No Hiding Place" -- an uptempto track about the obvious state of the world's affairs. Musically, this song is a pretty good indicator of the album's complexity. Mixed harmonies, Vox organs, and distorted guitars all make cameos at various times throughout Momofuku. Considering the size of Costello's instrumental arsenal it's hard to believe that this album was cranked out in a week. The aforementioned Lewis shines on the drum heavy "Turpentine" which clashes wonderfully with the bossa nova beauty "Harry Worth". The 1-2 ballad combo of "My Three Sons"/"Song With Rose" proves Costello hasn't lost the sincerity he perfected on My Aim Is True. The record closes on a notable high with the fun, yet seemingly improvised "Go Away" -- a song that could have very well been written and recorded in an afternoon. Costello does not reinvent the wheel on Momofuku but he does successfully build on one of the industry's most impressive resumes. At 53, he sounds at least 20 years his junior -- proving he is rock's equivalent to that cool beer smuggling uncle.

My Rating: 7.5/10