Devil, You & Me

Clash - "Opening with the building 'Good Lies,' it marks their return to staggering effect and indicates there's still endless ideas flying around Markus Archer's cranium." Q - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[They] manage to continue the evolution, adding extra layers of mesmeric, clicking rhythm and gauzy electronics to wistful melodies..." The Wire - "[U]nderstated vocals dolefully delivered over layered songs whose charm becomes clear with prolonged exposure." Pitchfork - "THE DEVIL, YOU & ME's stellar opening salvo, 'Good Lies,' begins with a bright, jangly guitar riff and and a pounding floor-tom beat that mainline Sonic Youth's DAYDREAM NATION." Paste - "'Good Lies' is driven by unfussy guitars and drums. Acher's simple vocal melodies infiltrate the brain....This is lightning-seamed cloud music, with digital dissonance and strings hovering over craggy, pop-industrial beatscapes." Spin - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "On 'Where in the World,' shivering, insectlike strings give way to the thump of a synthetic heartbeat..." Magnet - "[They] have woven a 20-piece orchestra into an already rich sonic field in which electronic beats and dubby effects co-exist with crisp guitar pop."

More than six years after the Notwist first garnered international acclaim with the European release of Neon Golden, the German indie-rock ensemble returned with 2008's The Devil, You + Me. As with Neon Golden as well as with the group's splinter projects (Lali Puna, Ms. John Soda, Console), electronics are a key element (see the pulsing "Where In This World"), but the band also incorporates plenty of arresting guitar lines and organic rhythms into the mix, as on the warm, welcoming "Good Lies" and the jagged "Alphabet." Tying everything together is singer/guitarist Markus Acher's emotive, reed-thin voice, which is immediately distinctive in its mannered Teutonic way, and gives The Devil, You + Me its heart and soul. ~ Eric Schneider|