Blues, punk, ragtime, folk. It's hard to classify exactly what type of music Beat the Devil really make, which is probably why they don't. Describing themselves with nothing more than newspaper reviews and the self-chosen word "other," the New York trio let their music do the talking.
Comprised of Shilpa Ray, Mishka Shubaly, and Mitchell King, Beat the Devil exist quietly, but play loud. They work to keep their background hushed, favoring a persona created by their sound and quirky, monosyllabic descriptives, such as calling Mishka and Mitchell "Head One" and "Head Two" in reference to a favored Roky Erickson song. Their music, however, is anything but hushed. With a percussion, bass, harmonium, and resonating blues vocals, Beat the Devil come together with readied talent to create albums that are different, but never lacking.
Their first, and for the foreseeable future, last full-length album, Idiot's Guide, brings together frontwoman Shilpa Ray's powerhouse blues voice with a guitarless sound born of punk and folk, and infused with a ragtime kitsch. Their sound is something between complacency and apathy, with voice and beat drifting around the empty spaces left after the harmonium quiets. Songs speak of everyday drudgeries in a world that is our own but somehow entirely unfamiliar. Theirs is grit without grind, meter without rhyme, and ultimately a half-hearted style of playing that leaves you wanting without truly caring.
The disbanding of the ensemble after producing such a great, albeit languorous, album only goes to further the constant sense of indifference. Still, all band members continue to play, bringing with them some of the dirty, old-fashioned attitude that makes the leash unique.
Beat the Devil had barely arrived before leaving, but did not fail to make their mark. With the smug, careless beauty woven into each song, Idiot's Guide will be a record worth listening to long after the breakup is forgotten.
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