The Devil Makes Three
Album: I'm A Stranger Here
Label: New West
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.thedevilmakesthree.com

There's no disputing the sheer energy, the rowdy and rootsy nature of this threesome's music, best described in the words of vocalist/guitarist Paul Bernhard as "garage ragtime, more punkified blues than bluegrass, old'n'new-timey without settling upon a particular era, inspired as much by mountain music as by Preservation Hall jazz". Phew!… The lineup's completed by guitarist/banjoist Cooper McBean and bassist Lucia Turino, but their sound is fleshed out by the presence of extra musicians (Casey Driessen, Jim Hoke, Steve Herrman, Marco Giovino and Bill Huber), all under the guidance of the record's producer, the estimable Buddy Miller.

The whole shebang makes a contemporary yet vintage sound that at its best exudes appealingly raw, whiskey-drenched ramshackle fury - key tracks on this set being Dead Body Moving, the ominous Forty Days, the hard-driven western-swing of Spinning Like A Top and the charging-ahead Worse Or Better.

All well and good, and I love music like this which keeps it rough around the edges yet still has substance. It can be a problem, though, if the actual material is less than memorable, as is often the case here, where no amount of production expertise or heavyweight drive can disguise such deficiencies. And moreover, the two slower-paced numbers (the maudlin Goodbye Old Friend and the lacklustre A Moment's Rest) prove distinctly weak, especially when considered in comparison with the remainder of the disc. Sad really, when the outfit promises so much from the start.

David Kidman