Even if the Devastations weren’t from Australia, Nick Cave comparisons would be impossible to avoid. Their singer, Conrad Standish, is tall, skinny, dark and not a little imposing, with an inky baritone and a fondness for lines like “My mother was a whore,” and the band alternates between ominous, broodingly noirish rockers and somber, gorgeous piano ballads like “Coal.” One thing these guys have over their elders: They can write an actual pop chorus and not have it come off as a joke. Check out “Sex & Mayhem.”
— T.B.
