The most striking moment of Elvis Costello's newest "rock" album - a distinction that must be drawn, considering his Falstaffian musical appetites - is the second track, "American Gangster Time." Normally Mr. Costello makes his mark lyrically, but if anything, Momofuku, is his tamest effort in this regard in recent memory, and "American Gangster Time," is thoroughly unremarkable. Rather, it is an element of his backing group, The Imposters (really, a reconstitution of his more famous collaborators, The Attractions, tastefully renamed to reflect the absence of estranged original bassist Bruce Thomas) that makes the most striking impression: Steve Nieve's organ. A sound lifted directly from ? and the Mysterians (whom Nieve disingenuously denied ever hearing when initially questioned about it in the '70s), its near-sci-fi whine automatically, if somewhat undeservedly, pegged Costello as part of the emerging New Wave, and informed the sound of his best LP, 1978's This Years Model. Cursory listens to When I Was Cruel and The Delivery Man, Costello's previous outings with The Imposters, do not reflect the instrument's prominence; so conditioned by years of neglect, its return on "American Gangster Time" is a conspicuous and welcome moment, for this listener at least. The organ's most salubrious effect is to place in relief the evergreen quality of Costello's voice, which, for not being technically ornate, has endured far better than nearly any of his contemporaries'. It, like the entirety of Momofuku, is a potent reminder that E.C. has never needed to return to form because he has never left it; when he puts his mind to it, he can simply pick up where he has left off.
