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When a jarringly bright, ballsy, and bothered singer calling himself Elvis Costello introduced himself to a malnourished pop music scene in 1977, many insisted he and his new wave ilk would be a passing, if rather impolite, phase.
Not to be. Today Costello can fairly be described as a pillar of modern music. His recorded output features a slew of memorable songs (many of them hits) that reveal a songsmith constantly pushing the boundaries other musicians are rarely even aware of.
Costello's second album, This Year's Model, introduced the Attractions, a group of musicians intimately sympathetic to his style and message. In the space of a minute and fifty-eight seconds, lead-off track "No Action" defined the drummer's role in this new music: Pete Thomas positively punches Costello's tale of personal politics with alternately hyper torn fills and crash-ride flourishes, dynamically driving the point home with loads of personality and even more energy.
As Costello's music evolved, so did Thomas's playing. The boundless energy unleashed on early albums made room for more relaxed, thoughtful, and restrained grooves, yet his playful drumset arrangements and edgy drive were always available when the songs called for them.
In 1986, Elvis decided to turn over some new musical stones, recording for the first time without the Attractions and for all intents and purposes leaving the members without a steady job. Thomas soon filled his schedule with studio work, broadening his scope and proving his great skill and versatility with acts such as Squeeze, Matthew Sweet, John Paul Jones & Diamanda Galas, Richard Thompson, Graham Parker, Los Lobos, Tasmin Archer, and British hard rock act Little Angels, as well as various non-Attractions Costello tours and albums.
A couple of years ago, Costello recorded Brutal Youth, featuring the return of the Attractions as a unit and kicking off a several-year-long projected working relationship, which will soon result in another album of new material. EC was recently in New York City for a series of shows at the Beacon Theater, where he introduced many of the songs—several of which the band heard for the first time days before, and which were having their arrangements worked out at soundcheck.
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