{"id":26475,"date":"2013-10-10T11:01:19","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T11:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/"},"modified":"2018-03-17T15:29:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-17T15:29:16","slug":"album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Kevin Devine – Bulldozer\/Bubblegum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"The clich\u00e9d sobriquet of \u201cthe hardest working (wo\/)man in the business\u201d could be applied to many, but in the case of Kevin Devine<\/strong>, he would be very deserving of the title. Just shy of a year after releasing Bad Books\u2019 (Devine\u2019s<\/strong> band with Manchester Orchestra\u2019s Andy Hull) second record, Devine<\/strong> is releasing two records simultaneously. These not only respectively represent Devine\u2019s<\/strong> 7th and 8th studio albums, but also represent two sides of Devine<\/strong> – one of which is the artist woven into the rich tapestry of the great American songwriter, the other more in keeping with his previous indie rock outfit Miracle of 86, who recently reunited for a string of shows – told you he was busy!<\/p>\n

Many of Devine\u2019s<\/strong> forebears released two albums on the same day – Springsteen, Waits, Costello and Oberst to name but a few, and they shape the sound of ‘Bulldozer’<\/em> alongside perennial Devine<\/strong> luminary, Elliott Smith. His spirit is revived in tracks such as ‘Little Bulldozer’<\/em>, which is preceded by the chiming, bolshy opener ‘Now: Navigate\u2019<\/em> featuring delightful backing vocals from Mark Lanegan collaborator Isobel Campbell. \u2018Couldn\u2019t Be Happier\u2019<\/em> is also redolent of Smith, but simultaneously hearkens back to the more doleful sounds of 2009 record ‘Brother\u2019s Blood’<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The decision to continue with the full-band setup from previous album ‘Between The Concrete And The Clouds’<\/em> has proved a wise one, as it has allowed Devine<\/strong> to make his most strident album yet. The infuriatingly catchy ‘The Worm In Every Apple’<\/em> and the fiery \u2018She Can See Me\u2019<\/em> are indicative of the swagger Devine has developed when fronting the band constructed by producer Rob Schnapf, and his vocal grows in strength when atop plugged-in instruments, whereas on previous outings he has had a tendency to mewl a little. The benefit is seen across the board; if \u2018Safe\u2019<\/em> was left as an acoustic ballad it may have felt throwaway, but KevDev\u2019s<\/strong> voice sounds fantastic soaring over a bluesy riff on this record\u2019s closer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Even with everything else on his plate, Kevin Devine<\/strong> can still be relied on to deliver, and grows from strength to strength as a songwriter. If there was but one minor quibble, it would be that other than a mid-section passage, encompassing the aforementioned \u2018Couldn\u2019t Be Happier\u2019<\/em>, the excellent \u2018You Brushed Her Breath Aside\u2019<\/em> and the wistful \u2018Matter Of Time\u2019<\/em>, songs are not given the necessary space to fill out and thus can feel a little suffocated. Nonetheless, this is still a fine addition to Devine\u2019s<\/strong> stellar canon, and develops well on the groundwork \u2018BTCATC\u2019<\/em> laid down.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/p>\n

There are hints of Devine\u2019s<\/strong> more political element on ‘Bulldozer’<\/em>, but right from the off ‘Bubblegum’<\/em> provides an outpouring of ire – whether it be \u2018Private First Class\u2019<\/em>, concerning the document-leaking scandal of Bradley Manning, or \u2018Fiscal Cliff\u2019<\/em> which decries the US Government\u2019s recent financial crisis. If \u2018Bulldozer\u2019<\/em> is a wise, mature record, then \u2018Bubblegum\u2019<\/em> is its bratty, angsty cousin – it\u2019s not a million miles away from its cohort, but everything here is just louder. Take for instance the storming \u2018Sick Of Words\u2019<\/em> or the rip-snorting \u2018Bloodhound\u2019<\/em> – even \u2018She Can See Me\u2019<\/em>, one of the more raucous elements of ‘Bulldozer’<\/em>, is here given a ferocious Nirvana-esque makeover.<\/p>\n

This record was produced by (and features the backing vocals and bass guitar playing of) Jesse Lacey (doesn\u2019t he have anything better to do\u2026?), and you can see his distinctive fingerprints on this work – \u2018I Can\u2019t Believe You\u2019<\/em> is somewhat reminiscent of Brand New\u2019s Daisy-era material. This leads into the dark and atmospheric \u2018Redbird\u2019<\/em>, which benefits from the expansiveness missing from some parts of ‘Bulldozer’<\/em>, eventually swelling to a satisfying peak and aftermath. However, do not mistake this for a collection of dirges – the high-octane indie-rock returns in the eponymous track, and it\u2019s quite the adrenaline rush.<\/p>\n

In fact, the album reaches its true peaks when Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band’s<\/strong> scintillating grunge-pop hurtles at full-throttle, such as on the fantastic ‘Somewhat Occupied’<\/em>. As a Brooklyn-ite, Devine<\/strong> must surely be sick to the back teeth of droves of \u201ccooler-than-thou\u201d hipsters, and takes them on in the pithy \u2018I Don\u2019t Care About Your Band\u2019<\/em> – however, despite landing all its jabs, it\u2019s a poor choice for a finale, and sees this album go out on a slightly more sour note than a triumphant one. Overall though, Devine\u2019s<\/strong> venture into noisier territories proves a successful one and much more than a fun experiment for him and his blaspheming bandmates.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, and perhaps most importantly, it compliments its accompaniment very well indeed. Both contain their individual merits, and earn their claim to be treated as separate entities, rather than a double album. These albums\u2019 realisation was aided by the tenth most successful project in crowd-funding website Kickstarter\u2019s history, and proves to be money well-spent.<\/p>\n

‘Bulldozer’<\/em> – 4\/5 \/ ‘Bubblegum’<\/em> – 4\/5<\/p>\n

‘Bulldozer’<\/em> and ‘Bubblegum’<\/em> by Kevin Devine is released on 14th October through Big Scary Monsters Records<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kevin Devine<\/strong> links: Website<\/a>|Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Ollie Connors (@olliexcore<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The clich\u00e9d sobriquet of \u201cthe hardest working (wo\/)man in the business\u201d could be applied to many, but in the case of Kevin Devine, he would be very deserving of the title. Just shy of a year after releasing Bad Books\u2019 (Devine\u2019s band with Manchester Orchestra\u2019s Andy Hull) second record, Devine is releasing two records simultaneously. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,8181],"tags":[5879,136,11641,11640,750],"class_list":["post-26475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-post","tag-album-reviews","tag-big-scary-monsters-records","tag-bubblegum","tag-bulldozer","tag-kevin-devine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlbum Review: Kevin Devine - Bulldozer\/Bubblegum - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The clich\u00e9d sobriquet of \u201cthe hardest working (wo\/)man in the business\u201d could be applied to many, but in the case of Kevin Devine, he would be very\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Album Review: Kevin Devine - Bulldozer\/Bubblegum - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The clich\u00e9d sobriquet of \u201cthe hardest working (wo\/)man in the business\u201d could be applied to many, but in the case of Kevin Devine, he would be very\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-10T11:01:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-17T15:29:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_inline_muev807XsJ1qztcot.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Album Review: Kevin Devine - Bulldozer\/Bubblegum - Already Heard Staging","description":"The clich\u00e9d sobriquet of \u201cthe hardest working (wo\/)man in the business\u201d could be applied to many, but in the case of Kevin Devine, he would be very","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Album Review: Kevin Devine - Bulldozer\/Bubblegum - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"The clich\u00e9d sobriquet of \u201cthe hardest working (wo\/)man in the business\u201d could be applied to many, but in the case of Kevin Devine, he would be very","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_published_time":"2013-10-10T11:01:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-17T15:29:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":150,"height":150,"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_inline_muev807XsJ1qztcot.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/508ed29771f8c5b56fdcf4695f22a2a3"},"headline":"Album Review: Kevin Devine – Bulldozer\/Bubblegum","datePublished":"2013-10-10T11:01:19+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-17T15:29:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/"},"wordCount":874,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_inline_muev807XsJ1qztcot.jpg","keywords":["Album Reviews","Big Scary Monsters Records","Bubblegum","Bulldozer","Kevin Devine"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews","Post"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/","name":"Album Review: Kevin Devine - Bulldozer\/Bubblegum - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_inline_muev807XsJ1qztcot.jpg","datePublished":"2013-10-10T11:01:19+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-17T15:29:16+00:00","description":"The clich\u00e9d sobriquet of \u201cthe hardest working (wo\/)man in the business\u201d could be applied to many, but in the case of Kevin Devine, he would be very","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-kevin-devine-bulldozerbubblegum\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_inline_muev807XsJ1qztcot.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_inline_muev807XsJ1qztcot.jpg","width":150,"height":150},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/508ed29771f8c5b56fdcf4695f22a2a3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcf4d491c971b5225a3e3c450225c0ae6ba0217be8f6ecb776a9506d4aa5595f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26475"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38395,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26475\/revisions\/38395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}