Album Review: Devin - Romancing

When superlatives such as “super” and “seminal” are thrown at a debut record from a native from Brooklyn, one should tread with caution. However with Romancing, revivalist muso Devin has scratched an itch that many people didn't know they had. Paying dues to past glories has worked incredibly well in the past – hello, Jack White – yet there is something in the classic rock tropes that this youngster harnesses that seems truly effortless. Opening number and single Masochist is everything that New York hasn't been for decades; wailing guitars, bow-legged swagger and ample amounts of rockabilly soul. Raw, passionate and frenetic, its flamboyant energy hasn't existed in such a form for a very long time. I'm Not A Fool sounds like Mick Jagger before the Stones became caricatures. You're Mine juxtaposes modern grittiness with the old-time innocence that Buddy Holly made his own. If he broke out into a hip-swinging rendition of Heartbreak Hotel, it wouldn't feel out of place at all.

Okay, so the over the top superlatives don't stop. But Romancing really is a record that has come out of the relative blue. With his coiffed hair and sharp suits, Devin could be mistaken for masquerading in the massive shoes of his musical forbears. But the sheer energy that emanates from these songs suggests someone who lives and breathes rock'n'roll, something that is often aped but never with the requisite amount of authenticity. There are other left-of-field characters in the modern rock movement – King Khan, Mark Sultan, Seasick Steve – who live and breathe the medium, and now you can add Devin. Long live rock'n'roll.