Sean Costello has that gritty soulful vocal style that is a perfect fit for blues rockers and his new release We Can Get Together is jam packed with songs that focus on scorching hot blues-rock licks while he belts out every song as if he was living it, with straight from the gut vocals. Costello kicks up some dust and plenty of emotion along the way with this electrifying CD. When you open the CD sleeve there is a listing of the tracks and on the next page is a black and white shot of Sean jamming and looking like is having the time of his life. Once you hear this CD, you will understand why he is smiling.
The title track just smokes and it sets the precedence for the entire album. He sings ‘We can get together baby, any time you want,” over and over then stops for a break and shows off his chops while his band lays down a nice groove for him to fall into and cut loose. At times do they do a little a stutter step to throw off the time, to make it a little more interesting, and it shows how adept Sean is with those changes on his six-string. There are some organ fills in between all of this to keep it jugging right along. “Same Old Game” suggests he has a brand new angle on the same old game (of love), but I can see where it applies to his music as well. There is nothing new about what he is doing, it is just a different voice and a good mixture of tempos and sounds for blues-rock and he is indie, which makes it more intriguing and appealing for those of us that want something different than major label cookie cutter pop crap. This turns out to be his best selling point and strength throughout the recording. This is determined and for real, something a lot of music these days seriously lacks. All 11 tracks are strong including those that slow things down a bit like the love sick “Have You No Shame.”
You have to love blues players like the young and vibrant Sean Costello, he has the entire world as a stage and he is just starting to dig in. I wish him all the success but I hope it does not go too far and ruin his originality and tough as nails vocals and then his music turns into lifeless mush like so many others that have traveled this road. Stay true to yourself and your music Sean and keep rockin’ man! We love ya just the way you are!
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-February 22, 2008
