Sean Costello was in his late twenties when he recorded this album, but he'd been on the blues scene for quite a while. He started out as one of those periodic child prodigy, blistering, award winning blues guitarists, who crop up regularly as part of an insatiable modern phenomenon. With ‘We Can Get It Together', whilst the guitar technique is in full evidence, Sean seems to have made a conscious effort to elicit a more mature, crafted sound, with an emphasis on song writing – eight of the eleven tracks being self penned and the album self produced, with some collaboration.
More mature maybe, but Costello takes no prisoners in setting the tone. The opener ‘Anytime You Want' is hard and raucous, very live, with a driven P90 Gibsonesque (I believe he used Hagstroms) guitar sound. The vocals are mic'ed dryish, overdriven and in your face.
And so we quickly come to Costello's varying vocal style. There is plenty of energy and growl, with a good helping of blues falsetto thrown in. He also approaches a modern, Texas rock blues voice, as with the riff led ‘Same Old Game', and strays into ‘Free' sixties power rock territory with ‘Feel like I Ain't Got A Home'. Perhaps Sean is most successful vocally when looking to his heroes from soul and RnB, as on ‘Can't Let it Go' – an infectious Al Green feel with some exquisite lead guitar, surely the obvious single – ‘Have You No Shame' and ‘All This Time' (despite its Scotty Moore intro), where he resonates of the Stax sound, but still maintains an edgy quality.
To be completely honest, I wasn't sure about Costello's vocals on first listen. He is going all out for his own thing, using liberal references from the past. It's not singing I could describe as ‘sweet' and the references need some deciphering, but my advice is to give it a chance, because as I listened repeatedly, I could see where he wants to go, and his commitment does grow on you.
This lad was nothing if not adventurous. ‘Told Me A Lie', with its full marching band backing, and ‘Little Birds' (taught to Costello by none other than Levon Helm) show that Sean listened extensively to Tom Waits and The Band, absorbing their respective beat sensibilities.
Straight ahead blues isn't forgotten. ‘How In The Devil' shuffles along at a pace and ‘Hard Luck Woman' has a particularly nice, guitar led groove. The traditional gospel ‘Going Home' is given a Robert Cray treatment, although once again, the vocal is all Costello's.
This sounds like an album of friends, and musically very proficient friends at that, which adds to the vibe - bassist and co-producer Aaron Trubic is the only constant contributor. The songs are imbued with the quality of a wordsmith, and they reflect on the complexities of relationships, as one would expect.
I didn't know if I liked this album by Sean Costello, but after a little thought, I've decided I do.
