After a great debut in ‘Let’s Rock-N-Roll’ (2009) Charm City Devils put out two more great albums -Sins (2012) and Battles (2014), it’s been five long years since…
So with three full length releases under their collective belts proud Baltimore natives ‘Charm City Devils’ have a new EP just around the corner titled ‘1904’ – the year that their hometown Baltimore was burnt to the ground. Thankfully the collection of five songs are suitably fiery starting with the single ‘Skipping Stone’ a song about resilience which of course is vital to both a City and to anyone who has been in a band.
Interestingly the bio that comes with this release is a little different too: “We can write about Charm City Devils returning to their bluesy, modern-edged and southern-tinged hard rock anthems. We also can tell you about the desire to rock the masses, but you have heard all the puffery before. Rather than bore you with the same old bio, we want to give it to you straight. We are Baltimore and Baltimore is in all of us! We have lived our whole lives in and around this city. Baltimore was once vibrant. The town had jobs, low crime and was a place to truly call home. While it is tough to argue that Baltimore doesn’t have a myriad of issues, we still want to tell the story of what still thrives here, which is the Music.”
Musically they hit the nail on the head, this is five songs which do have that bluesy, modern-edged, southern-tinged hard rock feel but a song like ‘Dollar Signs’ has so much funk and groove beneath the hard rock it’s a real eye-opener bursting with soul. ‘Tides Are Changin” adds some more modern blues to the insistent groove; and one of my favourite here ‘Broken Hearts Broken Bones’ has a real roots and Blues fee that so many bands are catching onto at the minute. Oddly it kind of reminds me of acts like Australia’s own Claude Hay with the soul or early Lenny Kravitz. Great song. All too soon though,like with any EP you’re really getting into, it’s over.
The last word goes to not another new song but a reworking of ‘Skipping Stone’ in acoustic mode, it’s a nice treatment of course but I’d have taken another new song any day of the week if I knew they were going to be this good. Charm City Devil’s next full length just might be their best if this is an indication of the sound they’ve been honing since ‘Battles’ dropped half a decade ago.
Charm City Devils are currently planning shows all around the Baltimore area, with a full tour in the works and to be announced soon.