ALBUM REVIEW: Amigo the Devil Braces for Battle on ‘Yours Until the War Is Over’

If you take a look at the tour dates for Amigo the Devil, you’ll find a lot more shows at rock festivals or supporting rockers than roots-related performances. It might seem a strange fit for a guy whose primary weapons are banjo and acoustic guitar to rub elbows with Pantera or Flogging Molly. But listening to Yours Until the War Is Over, his new album, reveals an almost fatalist outlook that fits well with those acts. Combine that with a penchant for obscure literary references and you’ve got an album that is more Tom Waits than John Prine.

Throughout the album, Danny Kiranos (Amigo’s alter ego) proves himself to be constantly at war, sometimes with society though most often with himself. That’s evident in the album’s first single, “Cannibal Within.” Over banjo and bass, Kiranos speaks to self-doubt and addiction and how “all the parts we hate start adding up / until we find ourselves with more regret than blood.”

Kiranos’ destructive nature turns external in “The Mechanic.” It depicts “White Knight Syndrome,” the compulsive need to “fix” others’ problems, even when those problems are less than one’s own. With predictably disastrous results, Kiranos strives to help, to repair what he perceives to be a damaged soul. “I know you weren’t broken,” he finally admits, “I just needed something to fix.”

A highlight of the album, and its most harrowing song, is “Garden of Leaving.” The story of a couple who has lost a child, Kiranos pulls no punches in the frank depiction of the devastation caused by this event and the unsuccessful attempts of the parents to comfort each other and themselves through the tragedy. “The baby seat held nothing but a feeling,” Kiranos sings with flat affect over a solo acoustic guitar. “Our daughter came into the world / the same day she would leave it.”

But it isn’t all sadness on Yours Until the War Is Over. There’s also a wicked sense of humor that permeates many of the songs. “Once Upon a Time at Texaco” is about a hilariously botched robbery. “I’m Going to Heaven” finds the narrator taking a ketamine-fueled trip to the Pearly Gates to avenge the death of a lover. “It’s All Gone” is Kiranos’ most obvious nod to Tom Waits, adopting Waits’ signature rasp for the chorus. “One Day at a Time” turns a familiar 12-step mantra into a winking ode to self-destruction.

Filled with obscure literary references (the title is a reference to Hemingway), liberal doses of humor, and a thread of pathos spread across 13 tracks, Amigo the Devil delivers an album that is alternately fun and sad, sometimes in the same song. There’s something here to offend anyone who is prone to being offended, but if you can appreciate his unique style, there’s plenty to recommend.

Amigo the Devil’s Yours Until the War Is Over is out Feb. 23 on Liars Club Records / Regime Music Group.