The Devil Bat - "Lingers Like a Ghost"
(Sister Skull Records 2007)
The Devil Bat - "Lingers Like a Ghost"
(Sister Skull Records 2007)
From Aural Innovations #40 (September 2008)
The Musicians in The Devil Bat represent the last 40 years of Texas underground music!! Guitarist Lisa Cameron was the original drummer and founding member of Brave Combo, not to mention stints with Roky Erickson, Glass Eye, Three Day Stubble, ST 37; the list is endless and always growing!!! Lisa told me that when she was 12, in 1967, living in Houston Texas, they used to have battle of the bands in the park!!! Vocalist Lee Ann Cameron and Lisa first met on the Denton Texas art rock scene of the late 70's. Lee Ann has also played in countless bands including The Politicians, Sky City (with Tom Carter), and Jherri Sienfeldt's Atrophied Sac. Lead guitarist and back up vocalist Laura Creedle is also a longtime Austin, Texas musician who has played with Happi Family, Power Snatch, Triplewide etc. Bassist David Escamilla (The Dogshit Rangers) and drummer Virginia Meza (Jackie Ono) are the newcomers and provide The Devil Bat with their most powerful and driving rhythm section!!!!!
On to the review.... THE CORNER STORE: Lovely guitar and melody with vocals by Lee Ann Cameron, lyrics about looking for love in all the wrong places?! The Devil Bat have upgraded their live and recorded sound with the awesome rhythm section of David Escamilla on bass and Virginia Meza on drums. The CD was produced by Gretchen Phillips (Two Nice Girls, Meat Joy), who also contributes some vocals and percussion. The music has a very polished and full sound, and the years of experience by these musicians shines through with this care to detail and production!!! APPALACHIAN: A variation on the Wayfaring Stranger?!?! Uptempo, country-ish, surfer rockish?! Some nice guitar work by Laura and Lisa, more lyrics about love gone wrong!! These songs could have been recorded in 1965, 1975, 2008!? LINGERS LIKE A GHOST: These are songs I've heard performed numerous times over the years with different lineups. It's nice to have these definitive versions to represent the band. More bad ass guitar by Laura and Lisa, strong vocals and intriguing lyrics by Lee Ann with some nice backup vocals by Laura and then some more wicked ass guitar!!! CRUEL AND THIN: This one has Spanish lyrics. Nice mellow rock and then the searing guitar lead! Again, this song could be from any era!? Psych Spanish surf rock! STANDING ON THE EDGE OF DAYBREAK: The CD goes out with over the top psych rock!! Soaring vocals, pretty melody and then the sonic guitar leads and then it does it all over again. These are the lyrics printed inside the insert?!? Oh, the cover art is really kickass too!!
For more information you can visit The Devil Bat web site at: http://www.thedevilbat.com
Visit The Devil Bat Myspace page at: http://myspace.com/childrenofthedevilbat
Reviewed by Carlton Crutcher