Devilwood - Osmanthus Americanus

I had the pleasure of seeing Devilwood Live at The Skylark Cafe in West Seattle when Lee Rude opened for them.  When they took the stage with a stand-up bass I knew I was in for a treat. But nothing prepared me for the Whiskey driven, Demon rasisng, I want to fuck you in the back of my car, kind of show this group of hellraisers put on.  So when Andy Lowe, their bass player asked me to write them a quote for their press release, not only was I totally thrilled, but I said, "Hell yes!! I'll even write you a review!"

Hailing from Eastern Washington, Devilwood came to Seattle during the summer of 2012 and planted their demonic seed not only in our city but in our ears and our souls. Bridging the gap between Marty Robbins and Motorhead, Devilwood specializes in turning American roots music on its head. Combining Americana with 60’s psychedelic and garage rock, the Northwest quintet spin cautionary yarns of love, leaving, and the occult. The band is comprised of:

Hilary Allison- Lead vocals
Bill Muhlstein- Electric guitar/ backup vocals
Nick McLean- Acoustic guitar/ backup vocals
Joey Aubert- Drums
Andy Lowe- Upright bass

Devilwood's debut release, Osmanthus Americanus has been scourching my speakers at a volume that my neighbors can enjoy all morning. It starts out with a wall of noise called Cursed Hill. The bass comes up, slaps you in the face and makes you its bitch right away. When the guitars come in, a mixture of acoustic and electric that just crashes into my senses and makes me want to get up, take a shot of Jack and rock the fuck out! And then we have drums.  Oh do we have drums. Perfectly timed and hard hitting makes this one of the best songs I've heard in some time.  All fronted by the fierce yet beautiful vocals of Hilary Allison.  She sounds like she has a permanent snarl on her face, yet this comes off in a beautiful melodic way.

My favorite track on this album by far is The Devil's Gonna Send You To Chicago.  Such a swanky almost jazzy tune but with that rockabilly beat and rock guitars with such soul crunching vocals, this one will be on my playlist for years to come. 

I suggest you do yourselves a favor and get this cd.  One of the best rock cd's of this year!! You can get it on Itunes and Amazon.com

--Lilith



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