Joel Kaiser & The Devil’s Own – Leaving This World Behind

Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, Joel Kaiser & The Devil’s Own claims the title of the region’s first ever Hellbilly outfit.  Armed with a southern front porch mindset and a booze’n country swagger, the group combines the rural twang of honky-tonk and unearthly thumping of psychobilly for an experience rarely heard north of the 49th parallel.  Boasting a notable pedigree including stand-up bassist Charley-go-psycho of Hypnophonics fame, the band’s full length debut, Leavin’ This Life Behind, makes a strong case that these northern outlaws were born to walk a different line that their countrymen.

Equipped with an arsenal of country tools, Kaiser and his crew birth the life and times of vagrants, drunkards, cheats, and cowards, all the while keeping a great humour about themselves.  Right off the bat Kaiser’s guitar and Jason Larriviere’s banjo ignite the title track with a bounding wiriness dominating each string.  Kaiser matches each buoyant flash with carefree expression while constructing the song’s message of setting out for a life beyond a mind numbing day job.  Tracks like these exert the most obvious honky-tonk influences (think Hank Williams III or Bob Wayne) as echoed by the band’s origin statement in their reworked version of the title track of their first EP “Honky Tonkin Till the Coffin.”

Thanks to Charley’s pronounced thumping, Joel Kaiser & The Devil’s Own regularly flirt with their psychobilly roots.  And considering Montreal’s rich underground, the likenesses come natural.  In particular, the outlaw theme treads similar waters as their close personal friends and tour-mates Matchless.  In particular, songs like “Devil Knows best” and self-affirming “Goddamn Son Of  A Preacherman” gallop along with a steady punch that would likely make psychobilly legends The Krewmen proud.  Even a hint of blues turns up on “Battlin’ Demons.”  By and large their mish-mash of styles play off one another well, collectively keeping ­­­­the four-piece from ever exhausting any one of its many elements.

On the topic of lyrics, themes generally follow the status quo.  The dominant subject matter seems to be that of rugged individualism and just being an all around “bad-ass.”  With the exception of “The Bottle” – which acknowledges the damaging reality of alcoholism – most songs make light of their gothic-western content.  Now that Kaiser and the boys have made their mission statement clear, I’d love to see them take more risks and really hone their adventurous spirit (as witnessed across the career of Ghoultown)  – in doing so they should have little issue reaching the horizon’s next dusty plateau.

There’s no two ways about it, Leavin’ This Life Behind isn’t your grandpa’s country album – it’s a raging, train hopping campfire led by the honky-tonk charisma of the earth’s seediest vagrants and nomads.  Part front-porch banjo hootenanny and another part mentally unstable psychobilly thumper, Joel Kaiser & The Devil’s Own travels a barren path far from the comforts of home.  So if you’re willing to switch tracks and meander down the road less taken, Leavin’ This Life Behind is sure to reward an adventurous spirit.  Here’s to hoping Joel and the gang make for a permanent landmark on this sparsely settled landscape.