Fiddle While You Burn™: 09-20 Beat the Devil @ Sin- e

Whenever you see a band setting up on stage with the traditional guitar, guitar, bass, drums setup you can pretty much bet that however good they might be they're not exactly reinventing the wheel up there musically and these's a 99% chance that you've already seen someone else do the same thing but better. So it's fun to see band adding in different instruments and song structures into the mix - at least there's a chance they might do something unique or interesting.

Beat the Devil is a good example of this, featuring vocalist Shilpa Ray on a Harmonium (sort of an accordion on a table), backed by xylophone, drum and bass setup that combined to create a unique sound oscillating from ominous & foreboding at times to fast paced borderline euphoric bursts of energy at others. The most interesting moments came towards the end of the set when the songs shifted gears to a faster pace and bass player Mishka could open up & shred a bit (and he really shreds - it's was borderline surf-bass at some points).

In addition to having a unique sound Beat the Devil are fascinating performers and are highly recommended for anyone into more experimental modern indie such as the Occasion & lovers of classic experimental underground like the Velvet Underground.

Beat the Devil have a residency coming up at the Knitting Factory, they'll be playing every Monday in November.

Listen:
Beat the Devil on mySpace

Labels: Beat the Devil, Sin-e