Album Fri May 29 2009

Devine is Divine on Brother's Blood

I'll be honest, most of the time I find solo singer/songwriters kind of boring. But, then I heard Kevin Devine. Devine is an artist that can cross many different genres and put his stamp on each one. His new LP, Brother's Blood, is in a word, outstanding. He excels with energetic indie-rock jams like "I Could Be With Anyone" and several tracks -- including "All Of Everything, Erased" and "It's Only Your Life" -- that sound like they could have been on the Garden State soundtrack. He also has a talent for creating powerful swelling songs like "Carnival" and title track, "Brother's Blood."

In listening to the album, I found myself associating him with artists from Ben Gibbard to Ryan Adams to Albert Hammond Jr. to Sam Beam to Jeff Tweedy, but even those comparisons don't capture his wide range. There is "Fever Moon" -- a sexy Latin croon that you wouldn't expect, but it works. Then there is the deceivingly cheery ukulele tune "Murphy's Song" about a pup with a Marley & Me ending. The album hits its peak at the middle with epic desperation in the nearly eight-minute "Brother's Blood" followed by the steamy "Fever Moon."

Devine has worked and toured largely under the radar and was almost lost after his dismissal from Capital Records during their merger with Virgin, but he came out unscathed, and frankly, better off than he went in. This fifth album, released on the Favorite Gentleman label, is a self proclaimed "sprawling, confident mission statement about conscience, culture, and personality."

Kevin Devine and his Goddamn Band play tonight at Schubas, but if you miss him tonight, he'll be back in August as part of Lollapalooza's line-up. Tonight they will be joined by Miniature Tigers and Brian Bonz & the Dot Hongs. Schubas is located at 3159 N. Southport. Show starts at 9pm. Tickets are $11 ($13 at the door). 18 & up.

(Photo by Andreas Hornoff)

— Michelle Meywes / Comments (0)