THE UNCLE DEVIL SHOW -
'A TERRIBLE BEAUTY'
(album/ P3 MUSIC)
The Uncle Devil Show is actually a trio of very experienced and hugely respected musicians, all three of them Scottish.
Just like ex-Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker has recently emerged from the dark with an identity crisis on his part to play in the Cocker-disguised 'Relaxed Muscle' incarnation, ex-Del Amitri frontman Justin Currie is one of the prime components of this new band (who's now ominously known as "Jason Barr"), who's now sporting designer stubble and synchronizing his wardrobe with the other two members. The other two guys are Kevin McDermott - who used to be in the Kevin McDermott Orchestra - & Jim McDermott, who once bashed the drums for Simple Minds.
In this current line-up they all uniformly sport leather slacks, long hair and zebra-print waist-coats, purposefully shunning the presumed importance of having a cool image to be packaged alongside the music of a band. The Uncle Devil Show - as a band - is all substance and no style, and this 12-track album - as a direct consequence of their approach - is so cool it hurts.
Both Justin and Kevin share the singing and guitar duties, allowing Jim to spend his time contributing incidental percussion and draughty drum-beats, with the acoustic eccentricity of 'Leonardo's Bicycle' ('His bell and chain have set me free') gearing-up their twee, tongue-in-cheek world. In fact, the band name is actually taken from the title of a 10-minute episode of 'The New Twilight Zone' from the US in the 80's, and though these guys' fashion sense is undeniably scary, the musical worth of the songs that they sing is truly exquisite.
To some degree they might prefer to keep their real identities a secret, but there really is no getting away from the fact Justin possesses such a distinctive voice that anyone who knows anything by his former band Del Amitri is sure to twig straight away that Justin is singing the majority of tracks in this instance. Songs such as 'Gilbert O'Sullivan,' 'She Cuts Her Own Fringe' and 'Dandelion' are pure-pop in nature, with Justin's voice bearing sublimely endearing soul in common with the vocal twangs of Elvis Costello and his take on Alt.-pop music.
For the large-part the songs are slow and the tone subtle and melancholic in the best Del Amitri style. Effortlessly heart-breaking, The Uncle Devil Show's songs are however far funnier and far more light-hearted compared to any of the material any of the musicians have previously been involved with, with the quirky 'Tambourine' (on which Justin and Kevin duet together), one of the rockiest tunes in 'Bimbo In A Limo,' and the lovely Blues-pop of 'Angie Baby' being further highlights.
What's more, these guys take affairs to yet nuttier degrees by insinuating that they take it in turns on French bread, the tyre, the patio and scissors - though the resultant 'incidental' sound effects are never very forthcoming. I'm just glad that they've got such a uniquely-tuned and non-offensive sense of humour, and that they still manage to present such a charmingly fantastic, beautifully sweet and hopelessly romantic set of songs crafted to pleasure the ear of anybody who's willing to take a chance on The Uncle Devil Show for all these three geniuses are worth�
'A Terrible Beauty,' in reality, is a joyously wry masterpiece.
5/5
(Steve Rudd)
www.theuncledevilshow.com
www.p3music.com
Release Date: April 19th