HOLY MUSICIAN, BATMAN…

If you know anything about Elvis Costello and his relationship with his former backing band from the 70s and 80s, The Attractions, then you know that he hate hate hates Bruce Thomas, The Attractions’s bass player. In fact, the only difference between The Attractions and Costello’s “new” backing band (current tour excepted), The Imposters, is that Davey Faragher from Cracker now plays bass.

Some music writers have gone so far as to call Bruce Thomas Costello’s “nemesis.” It surely doesn’t help that Thomas wrote a wafer-thinly-veiled roman à clef about life on the road, in which he reportedly painted Costello with quite unflattering colors (though I haven’t read the book yet, so I can’t say for sure). This bad blood has led Costello to boldly state that The Imposters have a superior rhythm section to The Attractions, and he’s even gone so far as to say that the old records had interesting bass playing but never had a groove.

This rivalry begs the question: what’s so bad about Bruce Thomas? Well, in truth, absolutely nothing. In fact, I’ve often used him in arguments as an example of a bass player who does a hell of a lot more than fart out the root notes of every chord. His playing is excited and funky, like he forgot he’s supposed to be playing new-wave rock and instead thought maybe he was subbing in for James Jamerson on a Motown revival tour. He crafts catchy melodies, accentuated by rubbery slides down the neck of the bass, creating undeniably infectious grooves.
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