for the official site of The Devastations click here

The Devastations will release their album in Europe, March 1st on Munster Records.

'The Devastations' spooky008

Out now in Australia on Spooky Records / MGM

Live Reviews

Reviews

High Bias - Austin Texas, USA

Born in Melbourne, based in Berlin, the Devastations combine the no-bullshit poetry of the former with the decadent sophistication of the latter on their gorgeous self-titled debut. Like the Dirty Three set to lyrics or the Tindersticks without the fluff, the trio makes the kind of music that well-dressed mature gentleman in the corner that lived hard and well but has nothing to show for his romantic indulgences has in his head 24/7. Elegantly wasted tunes like "You Can't Reach Me Now," "Previous Crimes" and "Love Doesn't End Like That" lose the melodrama and dwell strictly on the dying emotions its protagonists try to resurrect. Beautiful, mournful, soul-refreshing.

Michael Toland

 

Blow Up issue #70 - March 2004, Italy

Con titoli che sembrano presi pari pari alle indimenticabili storie narrate da Raymond Carver (He Wasn¹t Like That When I Knew Him, You Can¹t Reach Me Now, We Will Never Drink Again, Love Doesn¹t End Like That, tanto per fare qualche esempio), il segreto più ben nascosto dell¹Australia ci viene finalmente mostrato in tutto il suo fulgore. Folk-rock solenne e ben impostato, maturo e a tratti dirompente, sospinto tanto dal sibilare dell¹organo (Loene, Love Doesn¹t End Like That), quanto dal vibrare intenso del violino (Previous Crime), che trova il suo sbocco ideale nelle ballate tout-court come Hold Me e You Can¹t Reach Me Now, letteralmente affogate in un umore nero, greve, capaci di slanci emozionali e di abissi profondi. Peccato che il disco si perda un po¹ nel finale, ma dopotutto non è facile certamente mettere d¹accordo in un solo album i nomi di Black Heart Procession, Nick Cave, Dirty Three e Tindersticks. Devastanti. (7)

Riccardo Bandiera

 

Tiny Mixed Tapes - Austria

The Devastations are a three-piece band out of Australia, whose eponymous debut album, far from the metal extravaganza their name might suggest, is a mostly quiet and passionate affair. It is also strikingly consistent, featuring a number of particularly compelling songs and no real filler. Due to their country of origin and singer/bassist Conrad Standish’s low voice, the band is destined to suffer countless comparisons to compatriot Nick Cave (see above). The truth, however, is that while their fan bases are likely to overlap, the Devastations play a brand of rock ‘n roll that’s grittier, more direct, and less theatrical than Cave’s output.

After the album’s instrumental opener, the band charges through "Loene," a muscular but rounded ode to a lost love. The next song, "Previous Crimes," is the first of several gorgeous, almost mournful, and apparently effortless ballads, in which the trio is accompanied by a piano and strings. These first few songs are fairly representative of the album’s overall sound, but that’s not to say the band never deviates from the pattern. For example, guitarist Tom Carlyon punctuates two songs, "Hold Me" and "Under," with furious, distorted solos that stand out against the album’s tensely controlled feel.

In fact, if I had to make a complaint, it would be that the band don’t let themselves go more often on this record. In concert, their songs build like brewing storms and then burst with dissonant guitar and drums like firecrackers. Still, it’s hard to imagine a much more assured debut than this, and in many ways the quiet and beautiful harmonies of "You Can’t Reach Me Now" and especially "We Will Never Drink Again" are more stirring than the loudest and fastest moments on the disc. The Devastations’ versatility emerges not through deliberate eclecticism, but through their ability to make a slow ballad scorch you like a barnburner – and that is a rare ability indeed.

Sherman Fleischer

 

Losing Today - UK

Loene / Lena 7" (In Fidelity) -  Limited Australian Single

 

Dorfdisco Magazine – Berlin

Die australische Weite erstreckt sich bekanntlich über einen gesamten Kontinent. Kein Wunder, dass dies einen eigenen Stil wie den der Beasts of Bourbon oder The Dirty Three prägt. Wieviel weiteres Talent dort unten arbeitet, können wir leider nicht beobachten. Nur ab und zu findet sich eine solche Gruppe über direkte Kanäle nach Berlin, in die musikalisch australische Enklave Europas, um von hier aus unseren alten Kontinent zu bereisen. In diesem Fall sind es die Devastations, die mit ihrer ersten Cd im Gepäck tiefe Eindrücke hinterlassen. Nach einem Billy the Kid - artigen Western Intro setzten sie tief rollend zum ersten Liebesstück an, tragen die ganze Stimme eines jungen Träumers mit zuviel Whisky und Haaren auf der Brust durchs Zimmer, dazwischen sinatrat eine Stargast-Nancy, um sich in den Solos als grosses Rockepos zu undern. Wer so "My legs a Soul, my mouth is dry" singt wie der Sänger Conrad Standish, der hat viel Seele geatmet. Doch Vorsicht, live sind sie halb so schwermütig, und fesseln das Publikum mit überfallartigen Gitarrenattacken zum grossem Gefühl. Selten flossen unterdrückte Tränen so selbstverständlich und fand man sich heimlich wieder im grossen Schicksalszirkus des Lebens.

Oliver Shunt

 

Barfly - Australia

Any band citing such shared influences as Lee Hazlewood, Roy Orbison, Astor Piazzolla, John Barry and Suicide would have to be, at the very least, a little left of centre. The Devastations, a Melbourne trio of some eight months standing, are most definitely that. File them alongside other hard to categorise Aussie outfits like The Dirty Three, Not Drowning Waving, Karma County and maybe Augie March. The 10 songs on their 42 minute debut album ? recorded in an old concert hall in Prague ? comprise an equally diverse range of love stories, covering the gamut from sorrow and surrender to lust and trust. Lead singer Conrad Standish?s languid vocals lend a dreamy, surrealistic air, but their down tempo groove and solemn air makes The Devastations an enervating listening experience. Still there?s some interesting instrumentation and a couple of ear catching tango-esque toons, obviously Piazzolla inspired, and the guitarist finally gets to break loose on Track 9. Black clad inner-city types might have a keener appreciation of these serious young insects.

Tony Hillier

 

Kinda Music – The Netherlands

Je kan er heel lang omheen blijven draaien, maar eens zul je het toe moeten geven: The Devastations zijn de Australische Tindersticks. Hier wordt dus grootsch en meeschlepend geleefd, gaat "Do Not Disturb" op de hotelkamerdeur tot het bed is doorgezakt en als het dan ooit toch allemaal afgelopen is wordt het verdriet weggespoeld met liters rode wijn. The Devastations hebben ook al eens bij Tindersticks in het voorprogramma gestaan. En bij The Dirty Three en The Black Heart Procession. Nog niet bij landgenoot Nick Cave, maar dat komt nog wel. Ze hebben in ieder geval Birthday Party-gitarist Rowland S. Howard al zo gek gekregen de bio op de website te schrijven en Cave's vaste mixer Tony Cohen heeft ook al wat gemixt voor dit debuut van The Devastations.

Het zou onterecht zijn dit trio daarom af te doen als een stel overbodige imitatoren. Volkomen onterecht zelfs. Ze hebben bijvoorbeeld dat typische Australische tikje ruwe bolster dat de Tindersticks missen en klinken toch nog een stuk intiemer dan Nick Cave. The Devastations zijn meer een welkome aanvulling op het genre. Zeker als ze op het niveau blijven waarmee ze debuteren. Want ze leveren een plaat af met een honderd procent score; de tien tracks variëren van goed (het instrumentaaltje 'Ausencia') tot ontzettend goed ('Previous Crimes', 'You Can't Reach Me Now'). Dat is dan dus gewoon een grootsch en meeschlepend debuut.
tekst: Martijn ter Haar

 

Terapija Magazine, Croatia.

Australians have horse for every race and are showing this to the whole world by significant musicians such as AC/DC, Nick Cave, Dirty Three, Kylie Minogue... not to mention others. Just recently we were again reminded of this fact by the band named THE DEVASTATIONS.
Emerged from the remaining parts of the band LUXEDO, this three-man band from Melbourne is actual refreshment in the era of all sorts of " rock-and-roll rescuers". The album atmosphere is night, a bit smoky, sometimes sad, sometimes angry but before all love scented. First we can hear instrumentaly-calexico-like "He Wasn't Like That When I Knew Him"; after that beautiful cave-like "Loene"; followed by the strongest song of the album, tindersticks-like "Previous Crimes"; chris&carla-style "Love Doesn't End Like That" and pulpVsdirtythree "Under". This album has no week spots.
Conrad Standish has a brilliant voice (baritone, is what the experts say), as well as most of C/Konrad who are singing, Tom Carlyon creates some dramatic atmosphere on the guitar, whereas Hugo Cran hits the drums as they should be hit. On some songs they have had big help from their band-mate Emilie Martin, on the violin or vocally, whereas occasional use of keyboards, banjo or other percussions makes the whole atmosphere very nice.
Ten songs said all there was to say about author's feelings at this moment because lyrics such as "i start to shake when i'm alone" or "why the fuck did you leave?" cannot be repeated and cannot stay such for too long so I am expecting happier atmosphere on the next record if this is possible or necessary.
These very nice Australians are at the moment on their European tour, but this time they will only transit Croatia when going from Slovenia to Serbia and afterwards to Bosnia. It is such a pity that domestic organizers were not in a position to bring such a band to Croatia, as this may have been the chance to see them before they become big (however wee may get lucky when they will be returning), what could easily happen with their second record.
Therefore my dear friends, I would recommend you to visit the nearest parts of our neighbouring country, Slovenia where you can see THE DEVASTATIONS, and places these are: MIKK (Murska Sobota) 26th of September 2003 and ORTO Club (Ljubljana) on 27th of September 2003.

pedja (24.09.2003.)
touched by the hand of lana

 

OOR Magazine - The Netherlands

‘Black Romance’

That the Australian band The Devastations has shared the stage with Tindersticks and The Black Heart Procession doesn’t come as a surprise when you listen to their debut album. The sound of the band, that has risen from the ashes of the popular band Luxedo, is exactly in between the earlier mentioned black romantic bands. A bit less penetrating as Tindersticks and less raw as The Black Heart Procession. Their power hides in the details. The love songs are  scrupulous put together. With minimal instrumentation and striking reserved singing the ecstasy gets to the listener and just as you’re almost swayed to apparent death a raw guitar lick bursts out in the middle of a song. Some songs sound maybe a little too sad so you could be thinking : ‘Hey you softie, go and tease your mother some more’ but the good songs are better be taken with measure while the rain is pouring on the windows. Written on the road, recorded in a concert hall in Prague and mixed in Melbourne. This is universal spleen.

Nanne Tepper

 

Rock Sound – London

The Devastations frontman, Conrad Standish doesn’t just look like a young Nick Cave, he also sounds rather like him. A line-up shuffle and a name change see the Australian band once known as Luxedo taking a whole new direction, one that’s as exotic in ‘Loene’, with its Spanish sounds and French – sung lyrics, as it is haunting in ‘Previous Crimes’. With former singer demoted to guitar, their interests now lie in quiet rebellion – an end achieved through experimentalism, elegance and the odd clever song (‘Love Doesn’t End Like That’). And if Standish is at times as dark and disconcerting as Cave, with a voice notably beyond his years, he also endears himself as the soothing poet in tracks like ‘We Will Never Drink Again’. With their vast swirling voids, The Devastations might seem simple, but it takes genius to make it look this easy.

Victoria Durham

 

DB Magazine - Adelaide

Melbourne's Spooky Records may only have about three artists on its roster, but my lord, are they talented. Spencer P. Jones and The Drones have released memorable albums of late, and now it is The Devastations. Comprised of the three men from now defunct scuzz rockers Luxedo, this new incarnation recorded these songs in Prague before mastering them at home in Melbourne. The sexy raspy violin and voice of Luxedo member Emilie Martin graces several of the album's ten creations.

So just how impressive is this album? Well, think Tindersticks, Black Heart Procession (both of whom the band has supported) and Lee Hazelwood, with a dose of disillusioned Nick Cave, and you're on the right path. These are songs about love and all that comes with it. Conrad Standish sings with hushed introspection over piano, banjo, optigan and harmonium played by guitarist Tom Carlyon and Martin.

A little too good to be true you say? Well, Standish's voice is a dead ringer for Cave's, and the arrangements mirror the first two gauzy beautiful self titled albums from Tindersticks, but The Devastations are good enough to be compared to those bands as comrades and not as rip-offs. He Wasn't Like That When I Knew Him is the first of two melancholic instrumental songs, recalling the Hungry Ghosts and 'Amelie' soundtrack composer Yann Tiersen. Loene alternates between desert strum and blissful French pop. One can imagine the boys as gangsters in a Tarantino film, and Martin as Mrs Mia Wallace. Previous Crimes and You Can't Reach Me Now could easily replace ballads on Cave's 'Nocturama' while Sleeping Dogs achieves everything a good closing song should. It is introspective and open-ended, the slinky bass and elegant piano resting on the well-matched vocal duet of Standish and Martin.

If it's beauty you're after, this album has it in volumes: just don't expect anything new. Love songs have been done to death, but that doesn't mean they can't still be affecting. The Devastations have created a timeless album that is sure to appeal to lovers and those that are not so lucky.

Lenin Simos

 

Rip It Up - Adelaide

Oh yeah… now that hits the spot. In these unrealistic days of top 40, Video Hits and that irksome beast now known as schm-alternative, why is it we find ourselves pining more and more for bands from a bygone era when music came first and who could deal with universal topics such as the complexities of love with a refined, intuitive grasp of the subject that doesn’t make the listener feel like talked down to. Let’s face it, love’s the easiest subject to screw up. Yet with so many pretenders to the throne, here come Melbourne’s Devastations effortlessly sounding, for all the world, like they’ve been doing it forever. As they should… this is in fact, the next incarnation of the band formerly known as Luxedo.

Firstly let’s just state that this is an exceptional record; highly ambitious and a sheer luxury to listen to (recalling a cross between the darkness of Tindersticks, The Dirty Three and middle period Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds crossed with various European folk music and even Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra, especially in several duets between lead vocalist Conrad Standish and ex-Luxedo member Emilie Martin – see the Sand-esque Love Doesn’t End Like That or Loene for example… saucy French there, Em). The material lingers in the memory like cigarette smoke and red wine stains, recurring with its survivor stories of dashed love affairs like a narcotic dream (Previous Dreams is a great example).

Much of this is down to some wonderful musicianship, led by Standish’s ominous and bruised baritone; whether he be discussing dizzying love or the lack of it in his personal dark-nights-of-the-soul. Dramatic guitars (and some sensational solos courtesy of the extraordinary Tom Carlyon, still a six-stringer to watch) and sharp, dynamic drums underpin each song while numerous colours are provided by everything from rousing violins, optigan, piano, harmonium and even, as wonderfully captured on the Waits-ish carnival Ausencia and the instrumental opener He Wasn’t Like That When I Knew Him, banjo. Pay close attention too… many songs take very serious turns, so just because a tune starts out sounding delicate don’t be surprised if they’ve turned into whirling dervishes part way through.

Really a much deeper, rich and thoughtful record than words will allow, The Devastations announces the presence of a major talent of which we’ll be hearing much more of. It’s so consistent and well realised, that highlights are hard to pick. Last time we listened, our favourite had changed once more (this time from the paradoxically-drink-yourself-to-oblivion-hmmm-sounds-familiar We Will Never Drink Again to the divine velvet of You Can’t Reach Me Now). All we can say now is, this is our pick (so far) for the late night listening album of 2003. Miss it at your peril.

Nazz (gga)

 

Inpress - Melbourne

The arrangements on this album are fresh off the top shelf. With plenty of organ, piano, violin and acoustic guitar used, The Devastations have made a record that embodies the weight of their music far more justly than their humble electric guitar, bass and drums live show can. The Devastations were born out of the ashes of Luxedo and this album was recorded in Prague, Czechoslovakia with former Luxedo band mate Emilie Martin, her violin and sweet vocals are vital parts of this record which are now not present on stage.
Tom Carlyon’s efforts on the record are also a stand out. While his greasy and melodic take on the Telecaster is well documented, his little touches make the difference between this debut being high class or an underdone bunch of ballads. The backing vocals in Hold Me are indicative of this attention to detail in telling these woeful tales of love lost. The first single Loene is also excellent and it’s Serge Gainsberg middle eight comes out of nowhere.
While parts of the album carry an Eastern European flavour, these songs are very much from the pubs and slimy bars of St. Kilda. Peppered with burst of fury but metered by drummer Hugo Cran’s soft hands and Conrad Standish’s laconic swagger, The Devastations play a homegrown kind of soul music. They can sing and they’ve got rhythm, two qualities which are unnervingly rare in modern musicians.

Phil Gionfriddo

 

Agenda, Sunday Age - Melbourne

The best albums conjure an ambience all their own, and this debut from former members of Melbourne band Luxedo does just that. Lyrically and musically, The Devastations might be rooted in pretty familiar landscapes of love and loss, but has more than enough presence and emotional shade to take it into a realm of its own: from the carnivalesqueinstrumental He Wasn't Like That When I Knew Him to the slow-burn melancholy of of We Will Never Drink Again and the dark comedy of Love Doesn't End Like That, a duet reminiscent of a sinister Lee Hazelwood. The Devastations might  have been written partly in Europe and recorded in Prague, but this beautiful and moody release is the perfect companion to the Melbourne winter.

Chris Womersley

 

EG – Melbourne

Partly recorded in a Prague concert hall, the debut by Melbourne’s moody Devastations simmers with old-world drama. They set the scene with a cinematic flourish, He Wasn’t Like That When I Knew Him echoing the tragic denouement of a spaghetti western. The other instrumental, Ausencia is pure eastern European street music. Frome the sobbing violin of Previous Crimes and You Can’t Reach Me Now to the slow, tremulous yearning of We Will Never Drink Again, the ominous Berlin albums of Iggy Pop and Nick Cave are other obvious reference points. There’s a similar air of murderous intent on Hold Me, and Conrad Standish has that kind of crushed baritone, as well as a healthy respect for Lee Hazlewood, if his sweetly forbidding duet with Emilie Martin, Love Doesn’t End Like That is any indication. Martin takes the ingénue role beautifully on a few tracks, and she and pianist Tom Carlyon manage to sound like a scaled-down Tindersticks on the album’s more orchestral moments. All sombre beauty and waltz-time restraint, this is like an arthouse flick for the ears.

Michael Dwyer

 

Inpress

The Devastations self-titled debut album (on Spooky Records) is a beautiful piece of work. A concept album of sorts, it deals with love. "Sorrow, surrender, love, trust and everything in between," the band says. "Raunch, regret, humiliation, adoration and all their by-products." They're big topics , but the album never strays into pretension or indulgence. The Devastations evolved out of Luxedo, starting as a trio (Tom Carlyon, Conrad Standish and Hugo Cran) in September last year. Luxedo bandmate Emile Martin also adds some effective violin and and occasional vocals. The sound will cop some comparisons to Nick Cave 'cause its mining dark, emotional territory. You have to be good to make this sound work and The Devastations are (just check out Previous Crimes and the albums instrumental opener). And Conrad is a great singer. When he sings "i've got a sickness in my bones, i start to shake when i'm alone" , the image stays with you.

Jeff Jenkins

 

 

Rave Magazine – Brisbane Australia

 

Somewhere in the middle of one of their European tours, Melbourne outfit Luxedo began the process of creating songs for the next album. But the combination of being out of their comfort zone and homesickness wrought a change in their sound that necessitated a new name. Now they’re The Devastations. With recording begun in Prague and completed in Melbourne, the ten songs here have a sombre but tender, maybe even slightly bruised air to them - imagine swamp rock as done by some swooning romantics and you’ve got some sense of what they do. Add producer Tony Cohen and their supporting acts like the Dirty Three and Tindersticks for more clues. Vocalist Conrad Standish sings with a dark shiver, murmuring like he’s dealing with a hangover, so that a song like Loene is Lee Hazelwood sung by a tempered Tex Perkins. For the most part, the music accentuates this with a muted mournfulness (especially with violin), the mix being sadly captivating. Then, just when you’re lulled, they’ll either turn the heat up (the sear of twisted guitar distortion in Hold Me) or add some quirky little European touch (Ausencia’s French cabaret feel), without altering the overall moodiness of these pieces. Devastations? Far from it.

 

Time Off - Brisbane Australia

Formed from the ashes of Melbourne rockers Luxedo after their lengthy European tour, The Devastations ply a subtler strain of music on their debut.

The mood is darkly romantic, even fatalistic, from the plucked notes and Emilie Martin’s strings of cinematic instrumental ‘He Wasn’t Like That When I Knew Him’ to the Lee Hazlewood groove of ‘Loene’ and duet ‘Love Doesn’t End Like That’, and stark Nick Cave-esque ballads ‘Previous Crimes’ and ‘You Can’t Reach Me Now’.
Conrad Standish’s deliberately slow drawl drips like red wine from an overturned glass, only outgunned by the perfect foil of Tom Carlyon’s apocalyptic feedback explosions in ‘Hold Me’ and ‘Sleeping Dogs’.

- Eileen Dick

 

Beat Magazine - Melbourne Australia

It’s funny how a break up can hurt in different ways. Sure you miss the intimacy, the sex and the everydayness of arguing over pasta sauce at the supermarket, but often the real aching comes from memories of boozing. Whether it’s a conversation over a bottle of red at the kitchen table or sitting in the back corner of a smoky bar on a Tuesday night for no other reason other than to get hammered, reminiscing about the two of you drinking can turn a heavy heart heavier. The appropriately named local three-piece Devastations nail this feeling expertly with ‘We Will Never Drink Again’ off their debut self-titled album. Accompanied by some simple but maudlin keyboards, Conrad Standish sings/sways his way through a love hangover. Full of loss and yearning and hurt and “why the fuck did you leave?” it stings like smoke eye. It also best demonstrates the albums theme of falling in and out love - the good, the bad, the beautiful and depressingly ugly. Standish, guitarist Tom Carlyon and drummer Hugo Cran wrote most of the record in Europe when touring as the band Luxedo with bandmate Emilie Martin (who helps out on vocals and violin) and recorded it in an old concert hall in Prague. Most of the songs deals with feelings of displacement in faraway places. Imagine ‘Getaway’ hosted by Leonard Cohen or Serge Gainesbourg. The highlight, the gorgeous ‘Previous Crime’ with the violin of Martin and the dramatic snare of Cran giving the lyric extra resonance. It’s not all crying into the Budvar though. ‘Hold Me’ builds to a crashing squall with Carlyon’s spazzy guitar. Ultimately though the slower pace and lonely lyrics make this a perfect album to curse love at 3am while drinking - alone.

Tim Scott