Devotchka

Devotchka
A Mad And Faithful Telling 2008 Anti

I absolutely adore when artists dabble in cross-genres and Devotchka is a group after my own heart. Originally a backing band for burlesque shows, this Denver-based quartet somehow manages to blend the best of Eastern Bloc folk music with Latin sounds such as Mariachi into something wholly organic and whose individual parts do not clash but rather compliment. They are one of those maverick acts who could be said are more punk rock than most punk bands themselves in that they dare to forgo conventions and so it is only fitting that A Mad And Faithful Telling was released on Anti-,who has an excellent reputation of releasing great albums by groundbreaking and off the cuff artists, new and old. And while they are not as bombastic musically as some of their contemporaries within the so-called Folk-Punk and Gypsy Punk genres, their live show is said to be something to behold complete with trapeze artists and various musicians appearing from within the crowd.
Each member boasts an impressive repertoire of instruments to their credit, with accordion, melodica, theramin, trumpet, violin and countless others piercing throughout one another and making their glorious presence known.
Each song moves in its own way, from the stirring, melodic epic 'Transliterator' whose string section swirls about over the haunting verses before giving way to the oddly catchy chorus to the instrumental 'Comrade Z' whose jarring Slavic rhythm section bounces joyfully and the rapid movements of Mariachi trumpets and violins dance rapidly around it to the closing track 'New World', which I swear to god could have been a Pixies song in the right era with its atmospheric female vocals in the background that painted for me a picture of Kim Deal.
Devotchka is a band to be awed by, and A Mad And Faithful Telling is the memo on that.