BIRTH
OF A LOVER - The Nice Device (TND)
The first time I listened to this CD, I wasn't particularly impressed. But
I must admit that it slowly grew on me. It was like there was a rough garage
band trying to break the shackles of FM rock'n'roll production and 
strip
its sound back to something nasty and more confronting.
The semi-slick sound is a bit surprising, given Jim Diamond's role in producing
a number of tracks. The guitar riffs are captivating (if not always challenging)
and occasionally threaten to wander off into a self-indulgent white metal
existence. But it's Alicia Gbur’s rock girl vocals that dominate each
tune, a little bit Niagara, but a lot more Adalita from Australia’s
Magic Dirt.
In this vein, "My Little Birdie" does some serious channeling of
Magic Dirt, but unfortunately not the Magic Dirt of the early 1990s (when
internal band conflicts contributed to a sense of unpredictability not wholly
related to the band's music). "Gotta Have It" has a captivating
a bass run opening, complemented with some wirey guitar rhythms. Easing the
pace slightly, "Never Be My Man" has a slower, more methodical entry
which escalates into a calvalcade of fuzzy guitar riffs and alto range vocals.
"Oh Me Oh My" kicks off with a funky organ backdrop, before (thankfully),
sanding back the production to a more raw feel, with the vocals sounding like
they're been put through a fuzz filter (to very good effect). And I'm sure
there's a hint of a Kiss flavoured guitar riff thrown in there more good measure
(which isn't a bad thing at all). "How Low How Obscure" eludes to
a Destroy All Monsters feel, but without the raw punk rock chaos that the
Monsters practiced.
"Bittersweet" invokes some watered-down Birdman style riffs, and
a vocal performance that's like the late 1970s Go-Gos before they realised
there was more money in girlie pop than dirty LA punk.
"Back to the City" rounds out the CD with more of the Magic Dirt
musical aesthetic, articulating an anthemic desire for the intrinsic pleasures
of inner-city rock'n'roll.
But inner-city surburbs across the world continue to mutate from low cost
housing, all purpose convenience stores and ill-defined street smells to high
rise, high rent urban professional dominated apartments that sanitise the
suburban rustic charm of the inner-city for mass consumption. This CD suggests
something similar – the raw punk anger is there somewhere, but unfortunately
it's been overproduced into obscurity.
I can't decide if I like this CD, or whether I really wanted more. I'd like
to see The Nice Device live to see that punk feel is still there somewhere.
I have a sneaking suspicion it is. - Patrick
Emery
1/2