1985’s bitter, frequently brilliant Across A Crowded Room kicks off with one of Thompson’s best-loved paeans to broken love and busted emotional circuitry, “When The Spell Is Broken,” and continues on in that fashion for nearly 40 minutes of pitiless romantic cynicism and acid social critique. Tense, unsparingly angry, up-tempo tracks like “You Don’t Say” and “Little Blue Number” strongly suggest the influence of new wave in general and Elvis Costello’s menacing take on traditionalism specifically, agreeably updating Thompson’s sound in the most organic manner possible. In the meantime, “Fire In The Engine Room” is a straight rave-up that wouldn’t feel completely out of place amidst the emotional and literal violence of Exile On Main Street, while “Walking Through A Wasted Land” proceeds patiently through Great Britain’s slow decay under Margaret Thatcher. Closer “Ghost In The Wind” is fearlessly ugly and beautiful, featuring Thompson’s detuned guitar set to a noir-ish lyrical tableau consisting of broken dreams, abandoned homes, and apparitions who might not actually be dead. Nothing the similarly sounding Sonic Youth accomplished at the peak of their considerable powers was ever more trenchant or disturbing.