The Confessions of St. Ace

John Wesley Harding is a dead vocal ringer for Elvis Costello and he’s rarely shied away from milking the similarity on a half-dozen or so albums since the late ‘80s. He hired Pete and Bruce Thomas of Costello’s former group, the Attractions, to back him on his 1989 album, Here Comes The Groom, and even now, over a decade later, he’s writing songs like “Old Girlfriends,” and “Same Piece Of Air,” which could easily be outtakes from My Aim Is True. Still, there are plenty of worse folks to ape, and in fact there’s lots to recommend about The Confession of St. Ace, an ambitious and smartly-crafted folk-pop concept album. Besides, with Elvis Costello busy trying desperately not to sound like Elvis Costello these days, where else can his fans go for a fix?