The Devil Makes Three

iTunes Review

The Devil Makes Three play acoustic Americana folk with mostly austere lyrics sung in the kind of Southern drawl that isn’t regional to their Vermont origins — but as New York City native Gillian Welch has proved with her own believable affectations, country is indeed a state of mind. “The Plank” opens their 2002 self-titled (and self-released) debut as Pete Bernhard’s gravely voice croons over a bouncy, jazzy, acoustic number played with an old-timey ragtime tempo. “Graveyard” follows with a waltzing number hinged on a narrative enveloped in rustic imagery of shipwrecks and solitude, as well as whiskey-poisoned staggers and jags. Taking a sunnier detour from their Cormac McCarthy-esque accounts of pastoral peril, “For My Family” plays with optimistic esteem for Bernhard’s next of kin. Similar to their live performances, the songs comprising The Devil Makes Three were performed (and recorded) without drums, but their salient rhythms are punctuated by muted strumming, bass fretboard slaps, guitar body knocking, and an uncanny knack for playing on-the-one like they were all born with synchronized metronomes in their heads.