Elvis Costello & the Attractions – Armed Forces (1979)

I have no idea why it took me so long to get familiar with Elvis Costello's music. Having listened to modern indie rock and indie pop for years, I should've been aware of this artist that has undoubtedly influenced many of those artists I adored in the 00's. I remember first hearing about Elvis Costello when he played with Burt Bacharach in one of the Austin Powers films. That song was a bit cheesy as anything else that Burt Bacharach has ever made, so I just foolishly assumed that Elvis Costello was also making music like that. Then I picked up the brick that is the book 1001 Albums You Should Hear Before You Die and when I got to Elvis Costello, I knew immediately that I had definitely missed out on something important. Elvis Costello gets some of his influences from punk, but his music is very well performed and the songs are beautifully melodic.



Armed Forces was the first album by Elvis Costello that I bought. I bought it on vinyl here in London. It has those crazy album covers that you need to fold a few times to open. The record wasn't in the best condition but it plays and was reasonably priced. Since then, Armed Forces has probably become my favourite Elvis Costello album. I do like all the first three albums a lot, but this one has my favourite individual songs such as Accidents Will Happen and Oliver's Army. Both of these songs are masterfully composed. The melody is beautifully original yet very catchy.

In addition to normal punk instruments, there are some brilliant piano lines on this album. Also, I have to bring up the bass lines. The bass player in this band is just amazing. I don't know who made the bass lines originally, but they are really amazing. Many of the album's lyrics are political and there are strong anti-racist and anti-war themes on the album. Some people have condemned the use of a racist slur in Oliver's Army, but if you look at the lyrics as a whole, this is definitely not the songs intention and if anything it is in a completely anti-racist context. Of course using words like that at all is quite unfortunate.

It's great that there are proper music videos from albums as early as this. The music video for Oliver's Army is mostly about the band playing live on the beach, with Elvis Costello running with a guitar to the waves. Young Elvis Costello had the perfect young and nerdy new wave artist look back in the day. He would fit in well with the hipster crowds of today. The video also gives some indication of what it would've been like to have seen the band live back in the day.

Unlike many other new wave bands, Elvis Costello's music is not filled with synthesiser sounds, but it rather uses authentic piano sounds and some rock organs. Of course there are some synths in the music as well, but it doesn't sound industrial in the same way as some of the other bands of the same era. I feel like Elvis Costello's music has many similarities to Patti Smith, even if Costello's music is not quite as dark and it's way more melodic. I'm sure many Britpop artists have found his albums very inspirational in the 90's.

I only found Elvis Costello's music properly a few years ago, and now I feel like I should even listen to him a bit more than I do, because I enjoy his music so much. If you're not familiar with his works, I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try.

Listen to the album on Spotify.