ROUTES & BRANCHES

September 28, 2013

Scott Foley

Devil Makes Three is in a dark place on their new album, I'm a Stranger Here.  Pete Bernhard sings, "I've already been where we go when we die" and "Lord, I got a heart full of hatred".  You wouldn't necessarily know it if you weren't paying close attention to the spirited music on the band's Buddy Miller-produced record.  The familiar DM3 formula is here, with Lucia Turrino's well-abused standup bass, Cooper McBean's fiery guitar and Bernhard's yelping vocals stalking the territory between country-blues, gypsy jazz and punk.  Stranger makes more room for horns, junkyard percussion and fiddle here and there, giving tunes like "Hand Back Down" a refreshingly different sound.  Devil Makes Three will open their Fall headlining tour with a couple Colorado dates.  The group's devil-driven rattle should make for a appropriately dark Halloween debut in Colorado Springs. 

Incidentally, as you might recall, my musical taste sloppily overflows the americana, alt.country and roots music I share on R&B.  If you share a similar short musical attention span, you'll want to check out my eclectic weekday show on KRFC.  Previously on Thursday mornings, I've migrated to Monday afternoon, where you will hear a bit of this stuff, but rubbing shoulders suggestively with stuff from many other genres.  I'm presently airing my obsessions Monday between 1 and 6pm (find my playlists here). 

*  Delta Spirit, "California"  Delta Spirit  (Rounder, 12)
*  Have Gun Will Travel, "The Places"  Fiction Fact or Folktale  (This is American Music, 13)
*  Willie Sugarcapps, "Trouble"  Willie Sugarcapps  (Royal Potato Family, 13)
*  Jonathan Warren & Billy Goats, "Angeline"  On This Very Evening  (Self, 13)  D
*  JD Wilkes & Dirt Daubers, "No Rest For the Wicked"  Wild Moon  (Plowboy, 13)
^  Devil Makes Three, "Stranger"  I'm a Stranger Here  (New West, 13)  D
*  4H Royalty, "Your Team"  Liars & Outliers  (M12, 13)  C
*  Elizabeth Cook, "If I Had My Way"  Gospel Plow  (Thirty-One Tigers, 12)
*  Whiskey Gentry, "Colly Davis"  Holly Grove  (Self, 13)  D
*  Brian Wright, "Over Yet Blues"  Rattle Their Chains  (Sugar Hill, 13)
*  Vince Gill & Paul Franklin, "Bottle Let Me Down"  Bakersfield  (MCA, 13)
*  Star Anna, "Power of My Love"  Go To Hell  (Self, 13)
*  Yarn, "Angel Place That Halo"  Shine the Light On  (Self, 13)
*  Tim Barry, "With Ease I Leave"  28th & Stonewall  (Suburban Home, 10)
*  White Buffalo, "Joe & Jolene"  Shadows Grays & Evil Ways  (Unison, 13)
*  Bonnie & the Clydes, "Pretend I Never Happened"  Bonnie & the Clydes  (Self, 11)  C
*  Drew Kennedy, "Jackson Square"  Wide Listener  (Self, 13)  D
*  Patty Griffin, "What You Are"  Silver Bell  (A&M, 13)
*  Deep Dark Woods, "18th of December"  Jubilee  (Six Shooter, 13)  D
*  Tony Dekker, "Carefree Highway"  Prayer of the Woods  (Nettwerk, 13)  D
*  Dexateens, "Foxhole Rock"  Sunsphere  (Cornelius Chapel, 13)  D
*  Marah, "The Hustle"  If You Didn't Laugh You'd Cry  (Yep Roc, 05)
*  Ha Ha Tonka, "Rewrite Our Lives"  Lessons  (Bloodshot, 13)  D
*  Leftover Salmon, "Get Up and Go"  internet single  (Self, 13)  C
*  Houndmouth, "Penitentiary"  From the Hills Below the City  (Rough Trade, 13)
*  Charlie Robison, "Out of These Blues"  High Life  (Thirty Tigers, 13)  D
*  Sadies, "Leave the World Behind"  Internal Sounds  (Yep Roc, 13)
*  Dolorean, "Unfazed"  The Unfazed  (Partisan, 11)