Elvis Costello and The Attractions - This Year’s Model - Review

Following the success of “My Aim Is True”, Costello wasted no time in forming his own permanent backing band, and The Attractions were born in late 1977. The group featured Steve Nieve on keyboards, Bruce Thomas on bass guitar and Pete Thomas (no relation) on drums. The extra-ordinarily high quality of Elvis’s song-writing was complemented superbly by this group, who presented to the world the right sound at the right time, with Nieve’s keyboard licks becoming almost a trademark in their own right. Here, power-pop could meet punk without a hint of sugary juvenilia. These were the kings of New Wave and, at this time, the all-time classics were pouring out effortlessly from the mighty pen of Declan MacManus…

The Jukebox Rebel