Australian trio
the Devastations debut with
Coal, an album steeped in the outback-gothic vibe perfected by
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. A similar set of influences is at play in
the Devastations sound: the
Gun Club,
Bryan Ferry,
Lee Hazelwood. (On a more recent tip,
American Music Club and
Elliott Smith are also worth mentioning, especially in lead singer Conrad Standish's strained croon; "The Night I Couldn't Stop Crying" is a particularly
Mark Eitzel-like performance.) Although plainly derivative of their shared influences,
the Devastations do make each song their own, through unexpected touches like the playful rhythm box samba beat that animates the opening "Sex and Mayhem" and the Western twang-guitar shuffle of "Take You Home." That said, an entire album's worth of little other than low-register vocals, minor-key tunes and self-consciously minimalist arrangements does get a bit draggy by the final third. ~ Stewart Mason