The Notwist – The Devil, You + Me Review
The Notwist are a band out of Germany who have been active since 1989 a year after I was born. When The Devil, You + Me hit the US on June 17th I wasn’t too excited because not having checked out any of their previous work, reviewing an album would reveal a countless numbers of flaws I have as a reviewer. Alas, here we are.
Google is a strange thing. When you look up The Notwist on Google, the main goal is to land on their myspace page. I like sampling music in this sense and if I end up really liking a song or two, you generally see me reviewing it on this website. Some albums I don’t do this for but for the most part, I tend to the tend to take that path.
The problem with Google is it lands on a seemingly real page but it ends up being a fake with just 3 songs streamed of Neon Golden their previous release 6 years ago (here’s the real one). I don’t know how I would’ve reacted had I listened to the songs of The Devil, You + Me but I was won over with their older tracks. Probably one of my first times I actually sought out getting an older album but damn is Neon Golden an amazing record or what?
I’ve been fixated with Neon Golden most of the time while I review their latest disc. I can’t help it, it’s definitely a superior album. I’m not saying The Devil, You + Me is a bad album, it’s a decent and compelling affair. I’m not saying the Notwist are ambient as they seem to be far from it but it feels like The Devil, You + Me tries too much for your attention on the intros before settling down into a comfort zone that Neon Golden has throughout. Scrolling through this album, I just didn’t feel at ease at the beginning of each track even if it turned out to be great.
If you are a fan of the Notwist, then this record is sure to be overshadowed by Neon Golden but then again most records would have a difficult time matching up. I still like the album though, its complex in nature but comes simplistic like some post-rock acts I’ve tried to listen to. If you’re not a fan of the Notwist, get Neon Golden.
The Devil, You + Me is an above average effort and on it’s own it’s pretty good that has a few pop elements and while it sounds simplistic and it soothes and relaxes your soul, sometimes it misses that desired effect of entirely sedating me. Boneless is my favorite track but otherwise it’s hard to choose what other tracks I like of the album.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
Buy the Devil, You + Me here: CD Universe + Insound + Amazon
