A back-to-basics record filled with upbeat rock songs and angry tirades, Momofuku is a pleasing palate cleanser that never quite reaches the urgency of Costello’s earlier work. There is a laudable and undeniable toughness to tunes like “American Gangster Time” and “Stella Hurt,” but these tracks are replete with the sort of stultifying riff-rocking common to ’70s bands like Free and Bachman Turner Overdrive. The material deserves better – it is worlds apart from the inventive sonic launching pad of the early Attractions. On Momofuku, the conviction is welcome even as the songs and arrangements are regrettably absent.