Patrick Costello has written everything from political blues rock to Latin rock to emotional, tragic bluegrass, so “Heart Like a Hurricane” is a change of pace. The San Francisco songwriter, singer, and drummer, who leads a project called The KnabokovCollective, calls it his first foray into fun, sexy, danceable grooves about passion and desire. Released October 26th, it is a classic boy-meets-girl story about the euphoria of young love, played in an electric rockabilly style. Costello co-produced it with Ari Rios at Laughing Tiger Studios in San Rafael, California, where Rios also engineered, mixed, and sang backing vocals, with Tom Finch on guitar and Tommy O’Mahoney on bass. The press materials say the studio has 30 years of success recording everyone from local talent to international artists.
Musically, this is very country-forward in terms of the arrangement and the drum and rhythm section interaction, and especially the keyboards. There is a lot of great grooving here; it carries the song because harmonically it’s pretty standard and the lyrics are fun, but the reason why it really shines to me is the rhythm. The swing is very well executed, and as we all know, it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing
Costello cites Elvis, The Blasters, and other early rock heroes as influences, and says what stands out most is the way the song builds in intensity, drops down after the guitar solo, and then drives to the climax. Costello also composes and performs rock, jazz, Latin and reggae instrumentals. This one is a throwback by design, and he says he loves the new direction. For listeners who like their rockabilly with a dance floor in mind, it is worth a spin.
