Devil's Gate Music
Related Articles
Everyone should catch an Amigo The Devil gig at one point in their life. Metalheads mixed with punks, rednecks mingling with perfectly coiffured Peaky Blinders-style hipsters. All gathering to worship at the church of Danny Kiranos aka Amigo The Devil. One of THE best storytellers you will hear during your time on this earth; and one guy with a guitar (and a banjo), perfectly able to not only capture the attention of a packed house and keep them hanging on his every word but also have them bellowing out the lyrics to some of the darkest, most somber music that you are as likely to hear today. An ATD gig is a moment where the lines between performer and audience don’t seem to exist, a total celebration of the fact that everyone in attendance is very much still alive.
You see, Amigo The Devil deals with the dark shit in life, the subjects that most people skirt around; life, death, murder, addiction, redemption, murder, religion, even more murder, and, ahem – bingo. Only Amigo could write a song about bingo and make it sound murderous. But while ‘Murder At The Bingo Hall’, track number three, on sophomore album ‘Born Against’, might suggest an actual murder, the protagonist is only figuratively speaking as his murder weapon is, in fact, a bingo dabber, and he’s “killing” his opponents at bingo. Now, you just know that this one is going to involve lashings of audience participation once gigs return, especially when Amigo hollers out “BINGO”. Ever the master of the macabre, he’s not going to be singing about the happier things in life, and when he does take a subject matter as inoffensive and stale as bingo, you can bet two fat ladies that he is going to put his own twist on it. Quite an eclectic track, with a lot more going on rather than just Amigo and his guitar; the kooky electronic pulsing sound throughout, deep, deep Hammond organ, crazy sound effects, and the best weapon of all – Amigo’s rich voice, which is as cinematic as ever.
‘Murder At The Bingo Hall’ is the most playful track on ‘Born Against’ (what an album title, btw), an album that opens with the sweeping majesty of ‘Small Stone’, upon which Amigo lays down a vocal performance that channels the pain and heartache of the late, great Roy Orbison – especially when he holds a long note. As soon as the lengthy note fades, the song comes to life with an explosion of music on what is the most “electric” part of the album. A few minutes that dares the listener not to hit “repeat” time and time again. Lana Del Rey would have won a Grammy for this one, had she written it. But she didn’t. Danny Kiranos did. His uncanny knack of taking serious situations and putting his own twist on the scenario manifests throughout the album; with ‘Quiet As A Rat’ being a great example. Played against the backdrop of a peyote-induced mash-up of a Mariachi band getting it on with a New Orleans jazz funeral march, it throws out many interesting observations; the most striking being the tale of a girl at a bar who overdosed in a photo booth and “nobody found her body until last call” and despite her being alone and unmissed, after the event, everyone cried about “what a good friend she was”. Such a simple observation of the complexities of human nature, and such a powerful song.
Running at 1:19 minutes in length, ‘Better Ways To Fry A Fish’ is a stark and imaginative vocal interlude (“I pried his kneecaps off like the lid on a can of paint, I nailed his tongue to his chin so I couldn’t hear him complain, I stuffed some PVC where the sun don’t shine and threaded some barbed wire through,”) that seeps into the beautiful, remorseful ballad ‘Different Anymore’ which finds the protagonist in a hopeful mood; “I don’t want to be different anymore, I’ve changed…”. With the stunning choir-like background vocals, the song takes on the feel of a lament, hell, maybe even the feel of someone making peace as they go to meet their maker (closing track ‘Letter From Death Row’ is just that). ‘Different Anymore’ is a gorgeous few minutes, dark as hell, but gorgeous nonetheless. ‘Another Man’s Grave’ is another; the tale of a man who has reached the end of his tether and is looking for a way out. With parts of the song dealing with his suicidal thoughts, it can be an uncomfortable listening experience at times, and one that is hard to ignore. How does Amigo follow that up? With the ragtime banjo of ‘24k Casket’ that’s how. Like ‘Murder At The Bingo Hall’, this one is crying out for a live audience.
Stark, beautiful, remorseful, fun, and very well-written, ‘Born Against’ is one of those albums that people should still be talking about in decades to come. But the music business is a funny old game (how else can you account for The 1975 selling out arenas?), just be thankful that there are people out there like Danny Kiranos offering up something different. Go see him live though, you’ll be raving about the gig afterward to anyone who will listen.
Available 16th of April, more information here.
