Beat the Devil
These chaps are just a half shade away from brilliance. It’s a small step, and they may yet take it, but it’s definitely still there nevertheless. Remember the height of the White Stripes Detroit Garage Blues fever a few years back, when groups like The Come Ons, The Soledad Brothers, The Dirtbombs, The Bellrays and The Detroit Cobras had a bit of a spell in the limelight? Well Beat the Devil, despite being from New York City, fit pretty nicely into that sort of area – angry, blues-punk guitars backing a woman with the sort of voice that could bring your house down around you if you were to turn it up too loud.
They have a mini album or long EP – at five tracks, which is it? – out at the moment, and I am pretty sure you’ll like this. On opener Plea Bargin Shilpa Ray really lets those lungs of hers out of the traps, but there are plenty of people out there with great voices. For me, the noirish atmospheres created by the ghostly harmonium and constant rumbling drum work are just as crucial to the success of this sound. Hearing stuff like this I desperately wish I was in New York and could actually go and see them play live – imagine that voice.
It lags slightly, just everso slightly, in the middle, but otherwise this is a perfectly executed little EP. It’s another one of those albums I wish I owned on vinyl so I could really make some noise with the bastard!
Beat the Devil – Plea Bargain
Beat the Devil – Green-Eyed Monster, Grey-Eyed Fool
Shilpa Ray’s voice just knocks me out. My wife laughs whenever she hears Plea Bargain because of the whole “bug up your ass” thing. Not lady-like at all apparently. I can’t put my finger on why, but she (Shilpa Ray, not my wife) strikes me as the sort of girl who could probably be coaxed into igniting her farts with a lighter after a cold beverage or two.
Do you have any idea how many of my illusions you have shattered with that one mucky remark. Shame on you C&B.
Just keepin’ it real, baby.