'Rigorously retro', that's how you could best describe The Devil Makes Three. Only the stylized tattoos on the forearms of banjo player Cooper McBean reveal that this album was not recorded in 1933 but in 2013. For the rest, the songs, the lyrics, the cover, the bare production, the instruments (banjo, guitar and double bass) and the appearance of the band members evoke the atmosphere of yesteryear.
You can see the trio standing next to a dusty intersection: all ready to sell their tormented souls to the devil. The trio is from Santa Cruz, California, but finds their musical inspiration in the Appalachians and the Deep South of the United States. The Devil Makes Three throws folk, country, bluegrass and white gospel into the blender with swagger. It is with good reason that well-known artists such as Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) and Buddy Miller are already fans. The latter also produced I'm A Stranger Here and regularly plays a nice moppie guitar along. (PdK)more