DeVotchKa - Curse Your Little Heart EP
Tracklist:
- I Cried Like a Silly Boy
- Curse Your Little Heart
- The Last Beat of My Heart
- Somethin' Stupid
- Venus in Furs
- El Zopilote Mojado
DeVotchKa have been a unique band since their inception, when they released 2002’s mariachi- and gypsy- influenced Supermelodrama. But, it wasn’t until 2004’s How It Ends that the band really hit their stride. What had been hinted at on individual songs on previous albums, was realized through the entire album. Lush, complex and beautiful, it is a tale from beginning to end where you’re committed to the characters, experiencing their joys, excitement, and loss. (Dare I say “concept album”?) It is with that combined lyrical depth and musical richness that DeVotchKa’s music took on a cinematic quality that went far beyond the storytelling of the typical singer-songwriter.
The same feelings come up when listening to their latest EP, Curse Your Little Heart. It wouldn’t be fair to do the lazy critic sounds-like-this-crossed-with-this-playing at some bizarre locale-thing. I could do this EP more justice if I give a brief synopsis of the celluloid-esque visuals that come to mind with each song.
The first track, “I Cried Like A Little Boy” is a classic late-‘60s western skies road movie. Two people–one man, one woman of course–speeding along the flat desert, both looking off into separate parts of the hazy horizon. It’s the end of the film with a perfectly content, unhappy ending.
Relocate south to Tijuana during prohibition for this updated version of Supermelodrama’s “Curse Your Little Heart”. This sensual musical, while lacking in story-line, is visually stunning. We find the out-of-towner from north of the border seduced into a tango-mambo fusion dance with a local lady of questionable employment.
DeVotchKa’s version of the Siouxsie and the Banshees classic “The Last Beat of My Heart” is a revolutionary battling against the dictator’s regime in an unnamed South American country. In this last scene, all of the village folks are rising up and joining him in his fight, eventually driving the ruler out of his palace and into exile. There are tears of joy. Our hero gets the girl (of course).
“Somethin’ Stupid” is the most modern of our little films. Take two cute, something-teen year olds, sittin’ on the back of his car in the wee hours. They’re alone and cracking open a few PBR’s. They’re wittily dissecting their absurd little lives and the kooky situation which forms the plot line. This is an hour-and-a-half long film that owes more than a little to John Hughes.
DeVotchKa’s cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Venus In Furs” has been a staple of their live show for a while. The recorded version sounds less immediate and spontaneous than the live version. But, it still is perfect for a New York City back alley crime drama that is perched at the delicate point between realistic story-telling and gory sensationalism. There’s blood, drugs, prostitutes, guns and some really nasty, but well-dressed gentlemen. I’m thinking Quentin Tarantino minus the love of surf-rock.
The Curse Your Little Heart EP winds up with a comedy. “El Zopilote Mojado” is a mismatched cast of characters in some southern European city with roads that only fit one tiny, brightly colored Peugot. We follow this tiny car, filmed at double speed, as it goes from one plucky character to the next. Roberto Benigni is definitely involved.
So, maybe instead of this writing thing, I should go into video-making, eh? No, you’re probably right; I’ll stick with this and let DeVotchKa continue creating the scenes.
MP3 Samples:
Curse Your Little Heart
El Zopilote Mojado
May 18th, 2006 at 4:56 pm e
Jill! i often do the same when i listen to music. wait, i actually do it all the time!
wow! i wonder if you can do the opposite and pick music for film. if you look at a silent reel and get what music would work. then you can move to LA and compile soundtracks! it would be nice to have you in LA, babe.
would you consider writing about the last Kate Bush?
xox, alex.
p.s. do you know what devotchka means?
May 18th, 2006 at 8:20 pm e
thanks, babe! love the LA sunshine, butmy heart’s in NYC.
The name Devotchka was taken from a line in A Clockwork Orange.
“They were getting ready to perform a little of the old in-out, in-out on a weepy young devotchka they had there.”
and i did consider writing about the last Kate Bush, but it was a bit much to sit through, much less write about.