A.J. Roach and the devil must at least be acquainted. "Revelation" is a catalog of sin delivered with equal parts Appalachian echoes and alt-folk sensibilities. The opener, "Clinch River Blues" is a toe-tapper about suicide propelled by Stephan LaMotte's unrelenting drumming and darkened by Roach's sawtooth vocal. Alisa Rose's fiddle punches the rhythm, responds to Roach, then breaks out trading leads with Adam Roszkiewicz' mandocello. The spirited "Devil May Dance" uncovers the adultery of a lover "sincere as any neon sign." Roach multi-tracks his voice over a bottom filled with Charlie Rowan's swirling C3 organ. "Fashionistas" deconstructs pride with a stark tale about sophisticates in "their short summer dresses" and "freshly showered messes" and the men who show up on their doorstep. It all seems so civilized, but it's nothing more than "a cry for help." "Chemicals," the alcoholic's 23rd Psalm, prays "whiskey's my shepherd… It maketh me lie down in a strange woman's bed." The interplay between guitar and mandolin adds a touch of tenderness for the "dirty and desperate." There's more tenderness in "Hazel Blue," a love song from one wasted lover-with a heart of "glass that's broken"-to another. Listen for the glockenspiel and the acoustic's harmony notes behind the guitar picking. Sweet. The title track tries to resolve matters by comparing the relatively slight-and generally self-victimizing-sins of the record's disenfranchised characters to the "rich man who wages war on his lowest servant." Its dueling mandolins and banjo swell into a bigtime Salvation Army band with off-kilter trumpet, accordion, organ, and rousing harmony. But the victory of the good is short-lived. The devil (a reprise of "Devil May Dance") still lurks, returning briefly to close the record. AJ Roach's second release is as tuneful as it is dark and a true revelation. Finely etched lyrics and musical adventurism in service of song make "Revelation" the best album I've reviewed this year. How well does A.J. Roach know the devil?
© David Kleiner