Ballroom #71

Featuring Devastations
with Stagger Lee and Cars in Walls


Friday November 30th
The Lower Deck
doors 9pm
Free CD-r to the first 100

Devastations (Beggars Banquet, Melbourne)


Tom Carlyon, Hugo Cran, and Conrad Standish formed Devastations in Melbourne, Australia in 2002, but left the continent several years back, and currently reside in whichever European city will host them – mostly Berlin or, when they can’t avoid it, London city proper. ("L'Undone" as they say in their own unique coinage.) But more on that later…
The group has released two previous records, each weighing in at a well-balanced ten tracks. 2003’s self-titled debut won them a following in Europe, and that’s where they created 2005’s Coal, an album that raised their profile considerably both home and abroad. Nominated for the Australian Music Prize (AMP), it put them in contention with esteemed countrymen like the Go-Betweens, the Drones, Ben Lee, and Wolfmother. The record went on to receive praise in such antipodal press outlets as Uncut (four stars), Pitchfork (7.5 rating), and Q Magazine ("cultdom seems assured; more may follow"). Magnet called it "one of 2006's most dramatic dark turns," naming the group to the class of 2007 in their annual "Who's next" round-up. Meanwhile, the band mounted their first major tours of the United States and Europe, capping off a year of non-stop activity with a triumphant appearance this April at the Dirty Three-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival in England.
Finally, Coal earned the musicians a place at Beggars Banquet. Yes, U -- the first album recorded for the label -- marks a striking evolution. Previous records have been praised for their gothic detailing and subtle use of instrumental coloration (harmonium, Optigan, rhythm box, keyboards, strings, et. al). Devastations earned a reputation as well-refined miserablists and classic-minded balladeers, specialists in the sub-genre known as orch-pop. This was a mixed blessing. Unlike the artists to whom they were compared, Devastations’ songs were not intended as weepers, and their arrangements did not fill up every nook and cranny with suffocating detail. Rather, they were particularly notable for their use of space and careful construction. The noir moods did not seem like a plea for sympathy, or an indicator of depression, but a glimmer of how one might find salvation.
But enough about the past…

The band that greets us on Yes, U have sloughed off their previous history, and landed upon a path to the future. Recorded in Berlin with Jeremy Glover and mixed in New York City with Chris Coady (Blonde Redhead, TV on the Radio), it still hints at spiritual predecessors like Serge Gainsbourg and the Velvet Underground—urbane artists who reveled in the life of the metropolis, with all its glamorous, grimy, and sensuous details. But it also brings to mind thornier cosmopolitans such as Suicide, Scott Walker, and Yoko Ono —deep thinkers all, each noted for creating treacherous sonic environments and tangible, physical sounds.

Please, though, do not confuse Devastations for a trio of unreconstructed avant-gardists. Yes, U doles out two spoonfuls of sugar for every dose of medicine. If the band’s iPods are to be trusted, their third album also marks the emergence of a counter-sensibility inspired by Grace Jones, Italo-Disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder, and some of his more obscure followers. (It also points to the input of associate band members, Andrea Lee and HTRK’s Nigel Yang. Both contributed all manner of sounds to the album -- and Nigel was part of Devastations’ touring unit while this album was being conceived.) The sound is sexual, but not as we've come to think of the word -- an immodest thing beholden to the corporeal self. Yes, U is more fragile than that. It’s sex as a way of being, a state of grace. Electrified rhythms beat out a bit slower than the human heart, as if the whole point were to remind you that you still had one. The songs are muggy with sweat. At heart, Yes, U is a fashionable discotheque festooned with enough ideas to kindle the fires of the mind.

http://www.devastations.net
http://www.myspace.com/devastations


Stagger Lee

Stagger Lee formed out of the ashes of numerous bands and adventures that went astray, eventually finding each other and clinging to the notion that we were sick to death of haircuts and pristine guitar licks, clean vocals and self-conscious self-praising. We play music with grit and grease, that makes you feel sleazy, that vents and laments the everyday bulls**t but also entangles it with beautiful prose and makes you want to kick up your heels and smash chairs across bars in the process.

We want to put sweat and blood and tears back into rock and roll and to celebrate the truth and honesty and poetic justice of the blues. We want to share a bottle with you, steal your girlfriend, steal your boyfriend, rob your money, corrupt your heart and give you the night of your life. We might not be there in the morning when you wake, but we'll leave you with a smile on your face wanting more.

We write songs about jealousy, betrayal and split lips. We scream, we howl and we soar. We are two parts men, and two parts women. We fall down. We get up again. We are our own gang. We are our own worst enemies. When we are on stage we will always look you in the eye because we know that you know what depravity is and if you deny us, we will spit in those eyes!

Stagger Lee began 2007 with a debaucherous NYE gig and spent the early part of the year preparing for the release of their debut single 'Bad Shoes' which came out on their own Label Split Lip Records on Friday 13th April, reaching the top 5 in the Phantom FM most played for the months of April/May. Their sound embodies the spirit of Robert Johnson's Devil-at-the-crossroads and Mavis Staples sultry gospel cry combined with the energy and attitude of The Stooges, The Cramps and Siouxsie Sioux.

Highlights to date have included appearances with The Kills, Jon Spencer Blues Xplosion, The Duke Spirit, Sleater Kinny, The Long Blondes, The Drones and Pink Grease in the notorious White Trash club in Berlin.

http://www.myspace.com/staggerleeband
http://www.staggerlee.moonfruit.com

Cars in Walls


Cars in Walls formed in 2006 around frontman Peter O'Sullivan. Although the band had been through numerous incarnations based around Peter's music, the current incarnation represents a true collective and collaborative entity, a step forward for all involved. Drawing comparisons to The Arcade Fire and Sigur Ros amongst others, the band is true mix of stark fragility and huge roaring noise.


Following the recording of debut single "Teacup" featuring Nina Hynes (due out 26/11/2007) with producer Ross O'Donovan (Waiting Room, Hooray for Humans), the band set about honing their unique songs into a razor sharp collection of epic, weird and wonderful pieces to take to audiences nationwide. Early outings drew numerous plaudits from local press around their hometown of Bath and spurred the band into booking a countrywide tour of Ireland. Following the great success of the tour, including national radio airplay and press coverage, the band are returning to Ireland on 24/11/2007 to showcase dynamic new material before heading to the studio in the new year.

"From hushed beginnings, Cars in Walls gradually build from an indie-orientated Mogwai circular motif, adding layer upon layer to create a sweeping wide screen sound in much the same vein as Icelandic dream weavers Sigur Ros. Its epic stuff to be sure, packed full of floating other-worldly melodies and ascending spiralling guitars"
Graham Lynch, Cork Independent, July 2007.

"Picture Sonic Youth doing a more Pink Floydish cinematic thing... Augmented with Bjork's oddness and lots of Mogwai.. all very experimental and post rockish... female/male fronted escapists... well done for that."
Bugbear Bookings

"The unusual outfit came on stage far positively like they had done it a thousand times before... Their opening song If I Go You Go really sets the scene for the rest of their set. Slashing guitars, amps maxed out and tunes that will stick in your head for ages... You can't stop tapping your feet and banging your head for these guys, they are just too good."
www.live-music-scene.co.uk

http://www.myspace.com/carsinwalls