If you were to categorise the debut album by this motley crew of Irish musicians and artists, you would find yourself as confused as its tracklisting. Is it a spaghetti western? An offbeat sci-fi movie? A 19th century period drama?
The Devil’s Spine Band, a collective led by the keyboardist Trevor Knight (best known for his work with the Irish 1980s new-wave band Auto Da Fé), first came together in 2011. This album, apparently inspired by Oscar Wilde’s trip to Colorado in 1882, features luminaries of the Irish independent scene such as the jazz singer Honor Heffernan and the blues guitarist Ed Deane, who co-wrote many of these songs (some of which are Wilde’s poems set to music).
Knight’s background in theatre directing and sound design makes more sense in the context of the instrumental numbers, particularly the ominous, intricate Down Below the Snakeline and the experimental, ambient electronica-tinged Captain Moonlight and the Silver-Tongued Mountain.
Elsewhere, there is a proliferation of bluesy, twangy rock’n’roll that sounds like a poor homage to Joe Meek or The Shadows (The Devil’s Rodeo), while the mournful cabaret of Desert Poppy comes across as Twin Peaks meets Edward Scissorhands.
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Other tracks are overlong; no one needs 10 minutes of the primal yowling that is Chief Bridgeman Summons the Wild Electrical, or the grating rasp of Everything Is Blue.
This album is undeniably ambitious in its concept, and features often impressive musicianship, but the result is ultimately disjointed and unfocused.
