Devotchka, Crooked Fingers

Devotchka first popped up on our radar with 2004's How It Ends and its contributions to the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack, but it was the high-energy gypsy folk smorgasbord of last year's vastly underrated A Mad & Faithful Telling that finally made us big fans. Singer Nick Urata's operatic tenor...

By Noah W. Bailey

February 5, 2009

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Devotchka first popped up on our radar with 2004's How It Ends and its contributions to the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack, but it was the high-energy gypsy folk smorgasbord of last year's vastly underrated A Mad & Faithful Telling that finally made us big fans. Singer Nick Urata's operatic tenor is oft compared to Morrissey's croon, but the band has more in common with the Southwestern world music of contemporaries like Calexico and Beirut than The Smiths, with mariachi trumpets and string sections popping up liberally in songs like "Along the Way" and "Transliterator."

Opener Crooked Fingers may have released one of last year's most disappointing albums in the over-produced and under-thought Forfeit/Fortune, but considering how rarely the act visits town, we'll forgive a few bad choices for a chance to hear indie rock's Neil Diamond (lead singer Eric Bachmann) bark his way through old favorites such as "New Drink for the Old Drunk" and "Valerie."

No offense to Animal Collective (stopping in town on June 4), but this is easily the best bill you'll see at the House of Blues this year, so don't miss it.

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