Having conquered the first of many hurdles in his path with a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, Kevin Devine has followed through on his promises and delivered two richly rewarding records with ‘Bubblegum’ and ‘Bulldozer’.
Less a double album and more two sides to the same coin, they’re happy bedfellows. ‘Bubblegum’, recorded with Jesse Lacey of Brand New, is a furious blast of power-pop and while ‘Bulldozer’ is the ‘quiet one’ here, in the hands of Rob Schnapf it’s warm, forthright and every bit as interesting as its more outgoing companion.
Devine’s keen eye picks out issues both social and political throughout each record, skewering the vagaries of the financial crash on the bleakly sarcastic Fiscal Cliff, Chelsea Manning’s battles - both internal and external - on Private First Class and the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy on the reflective For Eugene and From Here, two 'Bulldozer' stand-outs.
Elsewhere, Little Bulldozer, a title track of sorts, is right up there with the best work of Devine’s career and I Can’t Believe You takes on a hue of Lacey’s day job, with textured vocals and a melody that leads through a few unexpected twists and turns in satisfying fashion.
Devine has neatly navigated the pitfalls of such a large undertaking, keeping things crisp and true to his previous work. There are high points aplenty here and, luckily, there’s not a lot of filler to wade through to get to them.
Tue February 4th 2014 - LONDON Lexington
Wed February 5th 2014 - BRISTOL Louisiana
Thu February 6th 2014 - MANCHESTER The Soup Kitchen
Fri February 7th 2014 - GLASGOW Nice and Sleazy
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