"THREATS AND WARNINGS" CD-ep:
from Give Me Back, issue #51.
This EP is short, sweet, and all over the place. It's like PROPAGANDHI channeled into THE EX interpreted by Dave Lombardo. Sort of. Tight and thrashy for the most part, but full of noisy post-punk tangents and challenging vocal melodies. Thundering double bass and impressively tight rhythms wreak havoc under jagged, minimal, satisfyingly heavy riffage. The vocals are powerful, melodic, and high pitched without being screechy. Pre-apocalyptic and anti-sexist lyrics abound. A fair amount of similarity from song to song in terms of structure and scale, but the band mixes it up with a few really solid mid-80's Dischord-style choruses and a fucking rad drum + piano breakdown. The unanticipated juxtaposition of familiar and incongruous parts forms a much more engaging whole. This is a weird, confident record; definitely worth checking it out. BL
from Slug & Lettuce, issue #87.
My friend Eleanor gave me her bands CD. Knowing that she's been involved in a variety of very diverse musical projects, I had no idea what to expect, other than she has a great voice. From the first note on this I found myself clutching my heart. AHHHHH! Her epic operatic voice overtop of a pummelling double bass drum riff, while the stringed instruments play a tight catchy punk beat. Fuck! So I got to see them, and Eleanor had me captivated. So captivated that I didn't even notice that I was one of only 3 other people watching them in the club. So sad. They're from West Philly and they play a jangly style of punk that is catchy and invigorating. Kinda like a touch of X. A second guitar player would give this even more of the power that I would like to hear, but they've got something really great going on here. Catchy songs, fanstastic vocals (dual on most of this) but Eleanor leads the pack. Check this band out. Mike Straight raves in his column about them some more. (Red Devil/ 219 S. 45th St/ Philly PA 19104 / reddevil@resurrectdead.com / www.resurrectdead.com/reddevil) (-Chris) note: our mailing address has changed.
from Punk Planet, issue #75.
A unique bend of artsy post-punk and Naked Aggression-styled hardcore, Red Devil is a very promising new band from Philadelphia. The superb dual male and female vocals carry these five worthy songs. It would be nice to see this put onto a 7". I'm definitely going to watch for future releases from them. (AE)
Self-Released.
from Profane Existence, issue #52/53.
From the mighty city of Philly we get five songs of straight forward punk with frantic guitar, but melodic, work accompanied by Eleanor's unique vocals supported by driving bass and creative drumming. The lyrics are very involved and poetic which gives RED DEVIL a sound all their own. (Jake)
from Maximum RocknRoll, issue #278.
Despite the double kick drum, clean chugga-chugga, and noodle-y guitar leads, Threats & Warning doesn't come off as a metal record at all. Luckily, the female vocals give it a completely different feel-more of a catchy, almost anthemic, pop-punk thing. I can see a basement packed with drunk, sweaty kids singing along to this band and having a lot of fun. But it's way too "feel good" and not nearly dumb enough for me to ever want to listen to at home. (VH)
MISCELLANEOUS:
from "Thoughts & Stories of Mike Straight" column by Mike Straight, Slug & Lettuce issue #87.
Next is a new band called ELEANOR and the RED DEVILS who fuckin rock! Ok, I do admit that I may be a bit biased, being that Eleanor is basically my sister and all, but I really, really, am impressed. Musically they remind me of early '90s DC melodic Emo/hardcore and with Eleanor's vocals and John's [sic] guitar, they also make me think of the Norwegian band LIFE...BUT HOW TO LIVE IT. They are touring this summer and if they are playing a basement in your town definitely, definitely go see them (and be respectful to the house too!) Oh, I shouldn't play around their name, as I do this with bands and in consequence I think my friend Shawn is still annoyed that I helped getting his band called "THE BAD DUDES" when they were trying to go by Pathogen, and I don't think Eric and Cory were impressed that I referred to their band My ASS is ROTTEN in my old zine. Therefore I should mention that ELEANOR and the RED DEVILS (the name I think they should use) are actually calling themselves RED DEVIL.
