It took half a year to perfect the 13 songs that make up the aptly titled The Devil In Music, the debut album from Limerick's Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters. Appropriately enough, it's a record that’s diabolically good in many respects. Produced by Hole and REM knob-twiddler Owen Lewis, the opus is a slinky slice of low-slung alt. rock that calls to mind Queens Of The Stone Age at their most relaxed; it's an assured, esoteric offering that fizzles with invention.
Star of the show is singer Ronan Mitchell's languid croon, which adds just the right amount of menace to the likes of 'Hatch Sixteen' and the off-kilter 'Keychain'. Piano-led drunken sea shanty 'Wasteland Overture' is a surefire highlight; the hand-claps and gang vocals are a nice touch too. The epic closing track 'Darker Shade Of Blue' is another belter; it veers violently from being a brooding lament that boasts layers of Spanish guitar to an all-out, feedback-infused electrified crescendo. A suitably grand way to end the album.
Some of the music on Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters' debut mightn't be immediate enough for some, but its complexity ensures that it is most certainly an opus that rewards the listener after repeated spins. Clearly the devil really does have all the best tunes.