DeVotchka - How It Ends (2004)

DeVotchka's music defies easy categorization. Think somewhere along the lines of a lovelorn troubadour fronting a "north of the border" mariachi band that grew up listening to eastern European folk music, and you may be getting close. Describing the feeling of the music on this album is equally difficult: soft and delicate; loud and boisterous; mournful; celebratory - DeVotchka wears many hats, and they wear them well!
How It Ends is the type of album that suits many moods and many situations. Perhaps this explains why it has barely left my CD player for the past three weeks and has shot to the top of my Ipod's "Most Played" list. With the soaring baritone of singer Nick Urata leading the proceedings, DeVotchka weave together tales of love, loss, sorrow, and celebration, in songs full of exotic instrumentation such as bouzouki, glockenspiel, theremin, violin, and accordian - in addition to staples such as guitar, drums, and piano.
There are a number of highlights on the album, the greatest of which is the title track, How It Ends. The opening lines - "Hold your grandmother's bible to your breast / Gonna put it to the test / You wanted to be blessed" - introduce a song that has the ability to make one's hair stand on end - even after multiple listens. It is the type of slow song that you and your friends will want to sing-a-long to at the end of a long, boozy night. It will make you happy and sad at the same time.
Other album highlights include the playful, mariachi-flavored, We're Leaving, the quiet lament of Dearly Departed, and the rollicking, Such A Lovely Thing, which contains the bitter refrain: "You only love me 'cause I'm leaving".

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/devotchkamusic & www.devotchka.net. For more DeVotchka music, check out the film Little Miss Sunshine, for which they provided the score.