The segue from "Tears" to [Elvis Costello]'s new "Brutal Youth" (Warner Bros.) is clear enough. The latter's "London's Brilliant Parade" follows from the former's "London's Brilliant"; if the "Brutal Youth" song doesn't replicate the Clash the way the "Tears" one does, Costello nonetheless has set the way-back machine for 1978's "This Year's Model," or at least 1981's "Trust." "Youth" even finds him again playing with the Attractions (including bassist Bruce Thomas, with whom Costello had a split once reported as permanent) and original producer Nick Lowe, although the album was produced by Mitchell Froom, who's worked on the singer's more recent discs.

The title's not the only thing about "Youth" that consciously evokes the spirit of '77. British punk presented itself (in the words of the Jam) as "Sounds From the Street," and Costello has written several new street songs, from the opening "Pony St." through "Rocking Horse Road." Following the lead of an American - Jonathan Richman, who exalted obscure Boston neighborhoods and suburbs in such songs as "Roadrunner" - Britpunk also celebrated regional identities, a tactic echoed by "London's Brilliant Parade": In a single verse, the singer mentions Kensington, Camden Town, Hammersmith Palais (site of a Clash single), Regents Park (where the zoo's "lions and tigers," despite the lyric, now can "pay their way") and even Fulham Broadway (that's in Chelsea, where an early Costello tune insisted he didn't want to go).