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Track Listings
| 1. Beat The Devil\x{2019}s Tattoo |
| 2. Conscience Killer |
| 3. Bad Blood |
| 4. War Machine |
| 5. Sweet Feeling |
| 6. Evol |
| 7. Mama Taught Me Better |
| 8. River Styx |
| 9. The Toll |
| 10. Aya |
| 11. Shadow's Keeper |
| 12. Long Way Down |
| 13. Half-State |
Product Description
Review
After the middling, mixed reception of previous releases, Baby 81 and The Effects of 333, there’s a palpable, renewed force here, ignited by the firebrand passion that made their early output soexcitingly vital. They aren’t just saying it; they’re spitting and stomping it out, conveying the visceral sense that they’d do the same if it was on their front porch or the steps of Congress.
Returning to the same Philadelphia studio that spawned 2005’s Howl, it's not unsurprising to find that Beat the Devil's Tattoo isn't too far removed from the stripped, temperate blues of their third album. And perhaps driven by the sting of their more recent indiscretions and label wrangling, it's an album that largely triumphs with a black snake moan and the revitalised, tempestuous twin snarl of Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been.
With its opening title-track, Beat the Devil's Tattoo sets an immediate, engaging marker, yet War Machine soon stands up as the album lynchpin. Steered by white noise and cynicism, it's a proud barrage of rapier percussion and wailing guitar dynamics that lurches in all the right ways.
It's also the excessively cool, monochrome reminder that BRMC – once upon a time – were more concerned with smothering guitar psychedelics than pedestrian, harmonica-led meanders. The turgid piano and ambling pace of The Toll, and Long Way Down, are the sacrificial lambs this time.
But nestled beside these slighter offerings is the slow burn of Evol and the gloriously mordant Shadow's Keeper. When pitted against BRMC's finer moments of eyes-closed indulgence – like the pastoral Sweet Feeling – it’s clear that the album’s conflict makes for an increasingly frustrating listen.
A realm away from the much-maligned direction of Baby 81, Beat the Devil's Tattoo undoubtedly has its highlights. But where BRMC might have given us clarity, we’ve got contrasts instead. --Reef Younis
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Customer Reviews
Good points - they have stayed true to their lazy, sleazy guitar sound with interesting lyrics to force home the track. Sticking with the formula on BRMC, TTOOYO and Baby 81 the opener has their typical drawling guitars all over it, and the second track is a little more up tempo. They have also included this sound with a more traditional sort of soul feel on a number of occasions, maybe this is where the Howl comparisons have come from.
Bad point - I really only have one. To me the end of this album really tails off in to a depressing mood at the end. Their sound can be sexy, it can have a kind of defiant attitude or it can be melancholy. Instead one this one it drops off in to some depressing areas. Whilst listening to it for the first time, my wife came home and asked me what the suicide music was. It was hard to disagree. Apart from that it's a solid album and definitely one that fans will enjoy.
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