The Punk Site 2021 Top 20: The Cutthroat Brothers & Mike Watt – Devil In Berlin

We have hit the halfway point in The Punk Site‘s 2021 Top 20, occupying the number 10 spot of our annual countdown of the best releases from the year that is almost over are The Cutthroat Brothers & Mike Watt with their second album of the year, Devil In Berlin. The venomous blues-punk, swamp-garage sounds of The Cutthroat Brothers conjures up the sound of bands such as The Gun Club, The Cramps, The Stooges, and even a taste of Sonic Youth and Hawkwind. The gruesome twosome, along with punk legend Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose, The Stooges) are back in road sharpened form. Jason Cutthroat’s grinding, straight razor slide guitar and Donny Paycheck’s (ex Zeke) pummeling, heavy-as-hell drums beat down on you in a blues punk soaked fever whilst Mike Watt provides the blood-like glue that brings the monster’s heart to life.

“The Devil In Berlin brings a darker tone to The Cutthroat Brothers, not that it hasn’t always been there, but this album feels more complete and considered, it’s also their longest to date. Their trademark blues slide driven garage punk and roll has always lurked on the dark side, but with their latest full length you get the feeling they have taken that deal with the devil and this album is the result. It’s unclear whether the addition of Mike Watt was part of the deal but his bass lines have added something to their engine room that compliments the rock solid beat laid down by Donny Paycheck perfectly. The Cutthroat Brothers undoubtedly have a style, if you love their previous albums then this one is going to slot right into your collection, but each album shifts in style and dare I say this is their finest to date.” (Phinky, November 2021)

Devil In Berlin is available via Hound Gawd! Records