Elvis Costello and the Imposters
(Lost Highway)
You can thank Jenny Lewis for this wonderful slab of thinking man’s rock. After stating he was done making records, it was the experience of singing on Lewis’ upcoming release that lit Costello’s fire and led to the one-week binge session that birthed Momofuku (named after Momofuku Ando, who invented the cup of noodles). With Lewis and some of her accomplished buddies adding vocals behind the wonderful Imposters, Costello has made his best album since 2004’s Delivery Man, maybe even earlier.
Everything here is good: the spaced-out psychedelia of “Turpentine,” the acoustic-stomp on “Drum & Bone” and the pedal steel-aided “Song With Rose” (written with Roseanne Cash); but it’s songs like “Stella Hurt” and “American Gangster Time,” when things gets a little darker, a little meaner and the guitars grow crunchy and thick as they work against big keyboard swells and badass choruses, where Momofuku goes to the proverbial next level.
Costello is gifted, one of the greatest songwriters ever; he can get away with almost any genre, but when he applies himself to the passionate simplicity of rock ‘n’ roll, he’s unstoppable.
Standout Tracks: “American Gangster Time,” “Drum & Bone” AARON KAYCE
