Vinyl reissue: With Swordfishtrombone, in 1983, a new Tom Waits is born. Gone is the Bukowski-esque crooner! From now on, his style becomes increasingly disjointed and surreal, like a curious blend of Nino Rota, Howlin' Wolf, and Harry Partch (an avant-garde composer who made his own instruments). The tracks are built on a rickety architecture of crushed percussion, then cubist guitars jostle with asthmatic brass. What emerges here, and will flourish on the following albums, is a new "theater of cruelty," tempered by grotesque humor and heart-wrenching nostalgia.