Band : Devotchka

Album title : A Mad & Faithful Telling

Label : Anti-

Distributor : Epitaph/ PIAS

Release date : 18/03/2008 (US; EUR= ?)

Release : Digipak CD

Having received the band's 2004 debut album How It Ends last year (it was then re-issued in Europe in an enhanced version by Anti- , an Epitaph subsidiary) we posted the review on 06/09/2007, and I already gave you a very nice and long description of their Balkan/ Mariachi-influenced Country music back then. What lacked was some history-of-the-band, due to the fact that while writing that article I happened to be on a short holliday, away from Internet connections.

So here it is at last: originally the ensemble was gathered as a backing band for burlesque shows, and it is therefore not surprising that all members are multi-instrumentalists. Admit it, there ís sometinng comical about a drummer suddelny standing up behind his kit to give away a trumpet solo, or about seeing the "frail" woman putting her upright bass aside to tackle a huge tuba. Seeing the frontman change his electric guitar for a keyboard, trumpet, theremin, and sharing a piano with an accordeon player whom also plays plays the violin. Eventually, the musicians hit it off so well as individuals, they decided to go tour on their own, and found their own label Cicero Records to bring their music to their audiences in a mode that is somewhat less volatile than the live environment. First album SuperMelodrama came into being in 2000, and was followed up in 2002 by Triple X Tango , and by Una Volta a year later. 2004 then saw the album How It Ends released, and this eventually led to the band's being picked by first time film directors Jonathan Dayton and Valeria Faris to make most of the soundtrack to their movie Little Miss Sunshine in cooperation with composer Mychael Danna , a movie which was released in 2006, with enough success to gain no less than 4 Academy Award nominations. Devotchka themselves were nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack.

Win Butler , singer for Indie Rock band Arcade Fire , suggested the band cover Siouxie And The Banshees ' "The Last Beat Of My Heart" and, finding the idea interesting the band indeed did this, then also recording covers from Frank Sinatra ( "Somethin' Stupid" ), Baldo Rex ( "I Cried Like A Silly Boy" ), The Velvet Underground ( "Venus In Furs" ) and a traditional ( "El Zopilote Mojado" ) for their 2006 mini-album Curse Your Little Heart , using a song off their debut album (the EP's title track) as a bonus. Around the same time, finding there was a public demand for older material, they re-issued their previous albums, the re-issue of the debut album without the song that appeared on the EP (which was released through US label Ace Fu , by the way).

Meanwhile, the band was either looking to broaden their field outside the USA, or interest had begun to come from Europe (induced by the band's participation to that lauded movie, most probably), and so an enhanced version of their last album was thrown onto the European market, finding positive acclaim with at least one journalist (talking about myself here).

The new album is equally as addictive as its predecessor. Again, you've got about half of the tracks where Jeanie Schroder uses her tuba, and of course there's quite a few moments where Mariachi horns are played, occasionally mingled with tunes that are closer at home to the Balkan than anywhere else, a couple of songs where Nick Urata mingles some Spanish lyrics in the whole, songs where the violin is exchanged for an accordeon. But hey, this time around I was able to do some research, and I am glad to tell you that the band has enabled the possible buyer of the album with an extensive listening session by putting no less than 6 out of the 10 songs (actually, the 6 first ones) off the album (which has a total length of just over 42 minutes) at myspace.com/devotchkamusic (also some videos available.

Check it out now, and get infected by the wonderfully catchy and melodic tunes of this weird combo. You will immediately understand why, even before staring the second listening session I was already humming the melody of album opener "Basso Profundo" ! If you're interested in checking out the band in a live environment, know that they are on tour in Europe right now. Belgian fans, let's all converge at Brussel's Ancienne Belgique on April 19 th and have a wonderful Polka Dance night!

98/100

Tony.