The Devils - Let The World Burn Down (2024)

Covers are often looked down upon condescendingly, but you can also see them as a tribute and a way to find forgotten gems. Cleo Randle’s amazing 1966 soul track Big City Lights (written by Wilkerson Brown) is once again in the spotlight thanks to The Devils’ version on their fourth studio album Let The World Burn Down, packaged in a sublime but twisted illustration by Alice Bad Taste. We get another cover (Teddy Girl Boogie is based on Crazy Cavan’s Teddy Boy Boogie), but actually the eight original songs are even more worthwhile.

In this case, The Devils are Erika Switchblade (vocals, drums) and Gianni Blacula (vocals, guitars) from Naples (Italy), and their new work is dedicated to all the brothers and sisters who have had enough of humanity. Lyrically it’s almost philosophical (“How many things seem but are not // And how many are instead and seem completely nonexistent // An illusion like all life // There is an illusion of living, of loving, of dying – from opening tune Divine Is The Illusion), musically it’s raw blues rock with powerful vocals and heavy guitars, varying in tempo but always with an authentic garage feel. For those who like it wild, Roar II (an even more exciting version than that of 2012’s Beast Must Regret Nothing) and Shake ‘Em are the go-to hits.