Search - DeVotchKa :: A Mad and Faithful Telling

IC B. (icberry)
Reviewed on 3/17/2024...

A little about this much-Wish-listed record:

"[DeVotchKa's] brand of indie rock draws primarily from Eastern European, Slavic, and Mariachi music. Album opener 'Basso Profundo' charges like a bull at the gates, if the bull were playing tuba and singing ghostly chants of 'Ooh's; The energy is relentless in this track, and the tension that is created as soon as everything slows down and builds up again is utterly magnificent."

"Some of the album's highest points lie in its two instrumentals, 'Strizzalo' and 'Comrade Z.'; These are works strictly in the vein of traditional Slavic music, with hardly anything indie or rock about them.'Comrade Z'; in particular, showcases the band's skills as musicians and songwriters, composing and executing a brilliant and complex melody on strings and brass, with a tuba keeping the tempo up by bouncing along brightly. Another stunning point where the album's instrumental passages take over is during a break in 'Undone', where dark, slithering strings strike out with great fervor...."

Courtesy of Denver based DeVotchKa, best known for scoring Little Miss Sunshine, releases a compact album of Slavic influences, danceable beats, and rock roots

On Anti-Records, home of Tom Waits and Nick Cave.

Samples at Bandcamp.