Romancing… Smouldering stairs
Review: Devin – Romancing
Published on May 3rd, 2012 | Jonny Abrams
If you’re not especially fussy about how you get your blasting fuzz-pop fix, then the breakneck delivery and melodic rush of Brooklyn’s Devin falls just the right side of chaotic for your summer-soundtracking delectation. Just don’t expect any ground-breaking or preconception-smashing.
Opener and single “Masochist” introduces you immediately to all the simple pleasures described above, before “Born to Cry” takes this approach and puts a sort of ’60s swing slant on it while informing us “I cut throats, cut hearts and cut ties”; he’ll also shred your eardrums given the chance, so mild-mannered folkies are advised to approach with caution.
“New Horrors flits excitingly between time signatures while scrambling its obvious influences into something quite unhinged, “In My Solitude” lays bear Devin’s love of “Heart and Soul”/“Stand By Me”-like chord progressions, while “Run” confirms Rocksucker’s recently posited theory that…
Every rock album will at some point mimic the drums of “Be My Baby” – #thingsthateverybanddoesatleastonce
— Rocksucker (@rocksucker) April 16, 2012
“You’re Mine” makes for an effective microcosm of the album’s entertainingly frantic quality, almost managing to do so in a manner worthy of Supergrass’s still-monumental debut album I Should Coco but stumbling over its own unmistakable likeness to “Teenage Kicks”, before suitably reflective closer “White Leather” sounds…well, unmistakably like “I Need You” by The Beatles.
If things like that don’t bother you then Romancing is a whole heap of energised, well-executed fun for you to let your hair down to and whatnot this summer. Musical train-spotters be warned, though; your brain’s in-built Shazam app is liable to go into overdrive.
Rocksucker says: Three Quails out of Five!
Romancing is out now on No Evil Records. Devin will be playing the following shows this month:
5th: LEEDS, Live At Leeds
6th: LONDON, Camden Crawl
12th: HAMBURG, Molotow
13th: BRUSSELS, Rotunde
14th: PARIS, Nouveau Casino
For more information, please visit www.devinmusic.com or the Devin Facebook page.
About the Author
Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.
