My Aim Is True

This was the album that introduced both one of the major songwriting talents of the late 20th century and a new take on what was already coming to be called “new wave” as the influence of first-generation punk began to wane. Costello didn’t have a band of his own yet; the musicians on My Aim Is True were moonlighting from a California band called Clover, and you can almost hear their bemusement as they bring their country-rock chops to bear on snarling anti-romantic fare like “Miracle Man,” “Pay It Back,” and the truly nasty “Less Than Zero.” Stylistically, Costello and Clover were an odd couple – but their work together yielded two classics of the postpunk catalog: the desperately regretful “Alison,” and (on the American version of the album) the stomping noir-reggae of “Watching the Detectives.” Although Costello would quickly organize the Attractions after My Aim Is True was released, and no subsequent album of his would sound anything like this, his debut album nevertheless laid out the whole thematic structure of the first part of his career: songs that dealt in frustration, resentment, guilt, desperation, and a thirst for revenge – sometimes all at once.