LPs
Trust
Elvis Costello and the Attrac
tions
Columbia JC 37051
Sometimes an album is worth
buying for the album cover
alone. The front cover of Elvis
Costello’s Trust shows the big El
himself peeking warily out from
beneath his horn-rimmed sung
lasses.
On the back, Elvis and his
Attractions are playing in what
looks like a mortuary. On one
side of the record’s inner sleeve
a trench-coated Costello is
doing his best Bogart impres
sion as he lights up a cigarette.
The other side has Elvis singing
in front of a big band (reminis
cent of the final scene of The
Buddy Holly Story) which in
cludes all of the Attractions.
For those who can’t afford to
blow six bucks on cover art,
Trust also happens to contain
some of 1981 's best music.
The album contains only 14
songs (as opposed to 20 each
on Get Happy!! and Taking
Liberties), but they're 14
high-quality songs covering a
wide range of subjects and mu
sical styles.
Elvis Costello is a graduate of
the Bob Dylan/Bruce Spring
steen School of Enunciation,
and half the fun of listening to
his albums is trying to decipher
the words. Lyric sheets are
never included, and months or
even years later there's still the
thrill of discovery when another
line suddenly becomes clear.
And, once the words are clear,
the next challenge is to figure
out what the songs are about
It's worth the effort, because
Costello has quite a talent for
manipulating the language. In
"Shot with his Own Gun” he
sings of a man “losing his touch
with each caress," while the
subject of "Big Sister’s
C(pthes” has "eyes like saucer
s/You think she's a dish.” And
JO They ’re Singing Our Song
VO
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If you’re really in love
nothing’s going to stand in your way.
"One of the best films of the year/'
— Andrew Sarris, VILLAGE VOICE
"One of the most enjoyable
movies of the year/'
— Pat Collins, GOOD MORNING AMERICA
"Richard Dreyfuss is first rate. Amy
Irving is equally good."
—Charles Champlin, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"An out-and-out crowd pleaser
that should captivate audiences on
a grand scale. In Richard Dreyfuss
and Amy Irving it has the most
appealing of romantic teams...
the chemistry between them is
exceptional. Lee Remick is
outstanding."
— Kenneth Turan, NEW WEST MAGAZINE
"Exciting, authentic, and a great
deal of fun ... an honest love
story."
— David Denby, NEW YORK MAGAZINE
"Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving and
Lee Remick give wonderful
performances."
—Joel Siegel, WABC-TV
COLUMBIA PICTURES Presents
A RASTAR/WILLI AM SACKHEIM PRODUCTION
RICHARD DREYFUSS
AMY IRVING LEEREMICK
"THE COMPETITION"
SAM WAN AM AKER Original Music by LALO SCHIFRIN Executive Producer HOWARD PINE
Screenplay by JOEL OLIANSKY and WILLIAM SACKHEIM Story by JOEL OLIANSKY Produced by WILLIAM SACKHEIM
Directed by JOEL OLIANSKY From RASTAR HCll oolbystereo |”
PG NKNTU GUIDANCE SUGGESTED <SE8>
ISM MATERIAL MAT «0T IE IUITUL! FOR CHILORER
Original Sound Track Album
on MCA Records And Tapes.
NSELECTEO THEATRES
• 1981 COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES. INC
PlctMl—
Coming soon to selected theatres
in the Extended Metaphor
Department, Costello warns a
woman that she's "loosenin’ all
the screws that hold the hinges
of my life.”
The subjects of the songs are
no less entertaining. "Fish N’
Chips Paper” concerns the
price of being rich and famous
in the era of palimony suits
(“The cost of living in sin
/Would make a poor man out of
Paul Getty. . . You'd better
speak up now if you want your
piece”) and anything-goes gos
sip mongering ("The man at the
launderette is searching
through your underwear for
clues”).
"Different Finger” is a
country ballad in which the
singer has a one-night stand
with a married woman. And
“White Knuckles" is a tale of
domestic violence made more
terrifying by the fact that Cos
tello sounds downright cheerful
(“It doesn’t matter if your face
doesn’t fit/There’s no charge
for changing it,” he grins).
Perhaps most intriguing is
"New Lace Sleeves”, an ex
amination of love among the
upper classes: “Bad lovers face
to face in the morning/Shy
apologies and polite regrets. . .
Good manners and bad breath
will get you nowhere”
A verse later, Costello begins
a description with contempt:
“The salty lips of the socialite
sisters/With their continental
fingers that never see working
blister. His crooning turns into a
plaintive whine for the next two
lines: “Oh, I know they've got
their problems/l wish I was one
of them,” and there’s a question
as to whether he wants to be
one of the problems or one of
the socialites. The two may be
one in the same.
Fascinating album cover, fas
cinating record. .. Trust seems
to have everything for the
choosy rock and roll shopper; it
even features a duet with
Squeeze guitarist Glen Tilbrook
on “From a Whisper to a
Scream.”
With six albums and more
than ninety songs under his belt
in less than four years, Elvis
Costello shows no sign of slow
ing down.
By Phil Bernstein
The Search for
Extra-Terrestrial
Intelligence
Fril°AY might
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