Paul McCartney is a master of the fake-out. The first feint around his new album, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” came when he released “Days We Left Behind” as the first single, an exceedingly gentle and wistful ballad that allowed for the possibility that the whole LP might be a collection of acoustic memory songs. The second bluff comes when you have the record in hand and put it on — to find that the opening track, “As You Lie There,” is very much in that soft, nostalgic, fingerpicking vein … for the first 55 seconds. At that point, a loud drum fill announces itself, snarling electric guitars kick in and McCartney’s trademark howls of old arrive in time for a fairly kick-ass chorus.
That’s when you know for sure that “Dungeon Lane,” which comes out May 29, is decidedly not going to be anyone’s idea of an old man album, whatever the calendar may say about his tender age. (Next month, he’ll be able to sing “When I’m 84.”) He’s determined to keep it fresh and lively, and occasionally even fiery, but not by pretending that he’s a youngster. Actually, the promise of “acoustic memory songs” offered by that first single was half right; it’s just that you can scratch “acoustic” as a through-and-through qualifier. On at least half these 14 songs, McCartney is taking an unapologetically nostalgic look at his ever-present past. But he’s doing it mostly in the flagrantly commercial, engaging, oft-rocking style of a 1970s Wings record. McCartney is acting his age and defying it too, which is kind of the best of both worlds.
