California trio the Devil Makes Three's Americana, folk rock and blues are dipped in a rockabilly flavour. On their latest LP, Chains Are Broken, they conjure hauntingly angelic harmonies wrapped in lyrical analogies with Flannery O'Connor's Southern Gothic macabre and Ernest Hemingway's fantasy imaginings.
The title track is a folk sea shanty with lyrics about emotional ties that feel like shackles. "Need to Lose" is fast-paced blues rock with the rockabilly spirit of Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue." The ragtime and folk "Can't Stop" adds a '50s doo-wop, and the swing revival shuffle "Pray for Rain" is shaped by jazz and rockabilly. The outlaw-enriched rock'n'roll, alternative country and roots mix of "Paint My Face" is sonically similar to the White Buffalo's "Oh Darling, What Have I Done."
Lyrically, there are references to war in "Pray for Rain," "Paint My Face" and "Deep Down," the latter of whose chorus laments humanity's evil side: "I'm a terrible man... I know what I am."
The rockabilly melody and Southern Gothic themes reference an era of simplicity and provocation. The Devil Makes Three's lyrical analogies in Chains Are Broken are thought provoking emotional medicine.
(New West)The title track is a folk sea shanty with lyrics about emotional ties that feel like shackles. "Need to Lose" is fast-paced blues rock with the rockabilly spirit of Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue." The ragtime and folk "Can't Stop" adds a '50s doo-wop, and the swing revival shuffle "Pray for Rain" is shaped by jazz and rockabilly. The outlaw-enriched rock'n'roll, alternative country and roots mix of "Paint My Face" is sonically similar to the White Buffalo's "Oh Darling, What Have I Done."
Lyrically, there are references to war in "Pray for Rain," "Paint My Face" and "Deep Down," the latter of whose chorus laments humanity's evil side: "I'm a terrible man... I know what I am."
The rockabilly melody and Southern Gothic themes reference an era of simplicity and provocation. The Devil Makes Three's lyrical analogies in Chains Are Broken are thought provoking emotional medicine.