Lucy's least favorite musician!
Amigo the Devil comes into everyone's life. But it's in a way that you can't fully recall why. Has he always been there? And if best friend Danny hasn't blown into your town yet, just wait. He always does.
The man sings of despair as though it were pleasurable. The way he plays on the emotions of depression is like that of a modern day Leonardo da Vinci work of art. Even his love songs are unique. By simply saying the quiet parts out loud, he writes something everyone can find themselves in. "You're right, Amigo. I do hope my ex's husband dies!" And the magic he can play with a banjo and a mere seven notes. That's not to say it's all doom and gloom. He knows how to rise through the pain and fight away the demons. He's told us that, simply by waking up today, I'm already stronger than dead.
Is his new album up to snuff?
"Hanging by the Roots" kicks us off. It tells us two short stories. None of which have a happy ending. Story one is about a criminal who's hung to death. He looks at his daughter before remembering the words of his father. Story two is a bright young girl who finds "the Holy Spirit." We learn later that it's the alcoholic spirit. She kills herself. The final verse is about how vital trees are to us. And they also make good ways to kill people. The music is a bluesy guitar with a surf rock tone that plays whenever it feels like it overtop a few acoustic chords. It's typical Amigo the Devil fashion, and it all makes for an enchanting experience.
Tom Waits, probably, takes over for "It's All Gone." The raspy voice that repeats the chorus sounds just like the eccentric "changeling," and even the music mimicked him. The drums strike in a way that sounds off beat, and the guitar has to be out of tune, right? The lyrics give me nihilistic vibes. "The only death that's ever really worthless is the life without a story to tell." ends verse one. It's called back towards the end, but "tell" is replaced with "sell," which kinda hurts. Verse two is about the ease of becoming a cannibal, and the third is about the futility of being a mountain. "When empathy has all gone to hell; It's all gone."
"I'm Going to Heaven" reminds me that Amigo got a backing band for this album. This is probably his peppiest, loudest, and rockingest track because of it. It showcases Amigo's ability to play with the English language. It's another straight story starting with the death of a loved one. The writer tries to find salvation in ketamine and alcohol. Verse two tells us his love was murdered in the name of god, as was the killer who offed himself. The story keeps getting weirder, as the writer is adamant that he's going to heaven to "blow out his brains." He goes to hell and befriends "Lucy." He then gets to "knock down Heaven's door," and even god can't stop him "until the pearly gates are crimson." He meets god, who's 4'5", and informs him of the truth. The music begins to untune itself and fade away as the entire song is revealed to be a drug trip. "Who put the mean in ketamine?" At least the girl was alive. What a good country western track!
"The Mechanic" is the second single off the album. It's straightforward and about someone who promises to help fix another's life. Several allusions indicate that doesn't happen. "Like a dog that keeps whining but you love the sound. So you let it go hungry to hear it." Memories are thrown into a burning house to feed the flames. And the final words are "Used to be is all we've become."
"Last Night at a Texaco pt. 1" is another story. A group of people are out of drugs (but have plenty of Cher), but someone knows how to fix that. They rob a certain gas station, but it turns into a murder. They kidnap someone, steal their car, and head to Mexico. Where the HFIL is part two, Daniel?!?!
A "nice" musical piece, "Barrel and Staghorn," spits the album in twain. Interwoven, though, are emergency calls from 911...
"Agnes" is twelve lines long, but I have so many questions. It seems to be about someone proclaiming, "I'm yours..." repeatedly. It's even where the album name comes from. Four chords are played through a vintage radio's static filter. A choir of drunk angels comes in at the middle, and there's a broken xylophone that closes us out.
"Cannibal Within" was the first single, and it's primo Amigo. A terrifyingly damned banjo plays a few notes while the Devil sings about his woes. For starters, fentanyl. He always thought his biggest fear would be love related... Verse two is where it starts to connect with me. The depression hits, and he thinks about suicide. But does he want to die with Hotel California on the radio? The chorus is about how it all makes us hate ourselves until we're eaten by the hate.
"The Garden of Leaving" is about the worst feeling in the world. A couple just had a child, but it died the day it was born. The song tells about the grief process of losing a kid. Lucy doesn't want me to listen to this again.
"Virtue and Vitriol" makes me wonder if this is part two of the Mechanic? It talked about the past and how this relationship sucked. It could just be about a generic abusive relationship that's causing the writer to consider suicide. The sad acoustic guitar plays melancholic chords on the lower end of the fretboard. A chello and/or violin joins in from time to time, and the guitar picks up towards the end. There's also backing vocals (not doubled), which is really weird.
"One Day at a Time" is a peppy song about killing yourself. Vintage Amigo the Devil! A loved one dies, and the survivor ruins their life in grief. They burn the house down, bankrupt their businesses, and blackout at Applebees. The writer happily reminisces about their meeting, but that's not important. The song gets even more upbeat at the end when the lyrics get darker. Why are we clapping? And why is he singing Enya?!
"Stray Dog" is the worst song on the album, but only because I really like the older, unplugged version. It's a genuinely happy song that also makes me think of the Mechanic. Someone tried to fix the writer, and they let them because "I'm only trying to give you the purpose you need." But the writer hasn't fully bought in. All they want to do is "run around the country and chase the postal trucks down.". But they want to do that with the other person. They look up to the sky and think about becoming a bird. They want to fly, but they'd rather have a reason to stay. In the end, everyone howls like a stray dog. I don't enjoy this version as much, but I do find the idea of howling with friends to be hilarious. Ultimately, the older version is still around, so all this is is a different take. I can enjoy both at my leisure. I don't know if this song alludes to suicide, but thank you, Lucy, for being my reason to stay.
"Closer" is another track Lucy won't let me listen to again. The music is just atmospheric as friend Danny does a spoken word story about a woman who made a throwaway line about life being too long, but it can be shorter... The cashier informs her their son did that. This shocks the woman, who spends the next few minutes pondering the meaning of life. What does it mean to win? What is the human condition spiral? What is doubt? It never ends.
And with that, another Amigo the Devil album journey ends...
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Skill) Across the lyrics, guitars, and banjos, Danny knows his stuff. It all wraps itself around each other to make something mind altering that my super ego hates. 2/2
Variation) Happy, sad, slow, fast. The topics change, but the power remains the same. 2/2
Bangers) Three. 2/2
Replayability) I love you, Lucy, but your taste in music sucks. Amigo the Devil writes songs that you're (the royal you) always gonna return to. Even if you don't want to... 2/2
Extra) It's thirteen tracks at forty five minutes, but there is part two of Texaco!!!??? I'll let it play out and wait... I might be overthinking this, but I like the loosely connected Mechanic saga, and the new backing band adds a lot to Amigo the Devil. I was skeptical at first, after hearing the Red Rocks concert, but I should be still and know. 2/2
Total Score: 10/10
Yours Until the End is our first perfect album of the year. The way Danny Kiranos writes about depression and death is as haunting as one can get. His wordplay rivals that of any poet of old, and his banjo/guitar skills play to his strengths. If you can handle the despair, he'll be a permanent part of your playlist. This album grows whatever it is he's got that no one else can match. Long live the murderfolk.
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