DeVotchka, the four-piece band which became famous after composing the score for the critically acclaimed movie ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ in 2006, mixes many different styles from American folk to Slavic rhythms and Mexican influenced tunes, using unusual instruments such as bouzouki and sousaphone. I saw them a long time ago at a street festival, way before their movie fame, and I remember being amazed by their stage presence and original and creative sound.
Ten years ago, they started their career as the backing band for Marilyn Manson ex-wife Dita von Tesse, and ended up touring with David Byrne in 2009, and then with music fellow Gogol Bordello.
The Denver based band recently returned to Wavelab Studio in Tucson to record a follow up to their 2008 Anti-Records debut ‘A Mad and Faithful Telling’.
‘Contrabanda’, a song from ‘100 Lovers’, the up-coming album that will be released on February 14th, starts with bright and alerted trumpets, dynamic and festive accordions and turns into an Eastern-European influenced celebration which would meet with the horn section of Calexico. It’s less disheveled than Gogol Bordello’s Gypsy punk but the Romani spirit is certainly there: