“I bear a grudge, I’m vindictive,” he told the London Evening News. “The title (from the hauntingly tough-tender ‘Alison’) speaks chapters: his aim – his purpose and prowess – is true.” ‘The music business stinks’Įlvis did little to dispel the early media impression of him as an angry young man. “Every song has ideas to burn and a memorable chorus,” enthused Mitchell Cohen in Creem magazine. Listen to the best of Elvis Costello on Apple Music and Spotify. Which, of course, meant that it could play to a broader audience, and Linda Ronstadt did indeed cover the standout ballad "Alison." Still, there's no mistaking this for anything other than a punk record, and it's a terrific one at that, since even if he buries his singer/songwriter inclinations, they shine through as brightly as his cheerfully mean humor and immense musical skill he sounds as comfortable with a '50s knockoff like "No Dancing" as he does on the reggae-inflected "Less Than Zero." Costello went on to more ambitious territory fairly quickly, but My Aim Is True is a phenomenal debut, capturing a songwriter and musician whose words were as rich and clever as his music.Costello made his singles debut on Stiff Records in March 1977 with “Less Than Zero,” following it swiftly with “Alison.” While neither song made the British charts, the huge media acclaim swirling around the unlikely-looking frontman confirmed the arrival of a major talent. Of all classic punk debuts, this remains perhaps the most idiosyncratic because it's not cathartic in sound, only in spirit. That blend of classicist sensibilities and cleverness make this collection of shiny roots rock a punk record - it informs his nervy performances and his prickly songs. Then, there's the infusion of pure nastiness and cynical humor, which is pure Costello.
It's not just that Clover, a San Franciscan rock outfit led by Huey Lewis (absent here), back him here, not the Attractions it's that his sensibility is borrowed from the pile-driving rock & roll and folksy introspection of pub rockers like Brinsley Schwarz, adding touches of cult singer/songwriters like Randy Newman and David Ackles. Elvis Costello was as much a pub rocker as he was a punk rocker and nowhere is that more evident than on his debut, My Aim Is True.
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