Arrange the uppercase letters anyway you want: Devotchka, or DeVotchKa ... but more like ¡DEVOTCHKA! The band and their excellent label ANTI- prefer DeVotchKa, so we'll defer to them (despite the extra key strokes).
The Denver-based quartet is coming to town for a show this Wednesday at the Belly Up, so I thought I'd get myself pumped by delving into their music a bit. I'll try to write a few words as a follow up to the live experience. They were one of my favorite bands at last year's Street Scene in downtown SD, so I'm excited to check them out in a smaller venue with a more focused eye and ear.
In the wake of the heralded "Little Miss Sunshine" soundtrack and signing with a major label, DeVotchKa released a shiny new album in 2008 "A Mad and Faithful Telling" with the help of Craig Schumacher at Wavelab Studios in Tuscon (see the cool video press release from ANTI- below). He's produced some of my favorite artists from recent years (Calexico, M. Ward, Richard Buckner and Neko Case to name a few), adding a desert-inspired, feverish shimmer to the record.
Sound
Sidestepping all the Eastern Euro-gypsy-mariachi-desert noir lingo, this is what I hear:
Sweeping strings sing and dual mariachi horns blare, like a wide angle sepia-toned photo of flat arid land as far as the eye can see...
... And then the sousaphone stomps into view on the tune "Twenty Six Temptations" like a hairy Hungarian strongman lifting a 300 dumbbell in one hand while grabbing the song by the scruff of the neck and tossing it to and fro with the other hand.
... And then the accordion sweeps you off you're feet in a song like "Strizzalo" with Parisian street busker flair.
But the real gem at the heart of DeVotchKa is the songwriting: sweet and sad and longing for a homeland that's anywhere but here. Flesh of my flesh/Soul of my soul/Come back home sings Nick Urata on "Dearly Departed" in his high-pitched plaintive voice.
One listen to Urata's voice and his crystal clear songwriting, and you're transported into his world of doe-eyed longing for the places you've been and a sense of wonder for the small things surrounding you now. DeVotchKa's music is about movement, not only the journey through the dizzying array of genres they inhabit, but the inherent feeling of missing places you've never seen.
Lineup
Nick Urata: Vocals, guitars, piano, Theremin, trumpet
Jeanie Schroder: acoustic bass, sousaphone, vocals
Shawn King: drums, percussion, trumpet
Tom Hagerman: violin, accordion, piano
Clips
Here's a live clip featuring the song "The Enemy Guns" from Twist & Shout, a record store in the band's hometown of Denver:
"Along the way" live at a SXSW showcase last year in a clip produced by their record label:
Another clip produced by the label, on the making of their last album:
