Without nearly enough fanfare, a new recording from D.C.'s own Des Demonas dropped today. Out officially via In The Red Records, the Cure For Love EP reveals the progression of this band's sound. Since the Bay of Pigs EP, and a few live performances pre- and post-lockdown, this outfit have amped up the garage rock menace, while Jacky Cougar Abok has somehow morphed into Mark E. Smith's little cousin. Whatever unholy stew of influences you find peeking through the pieces of this music, it's all good.
Opener "Immigration Song" sounds like something from a Specials session, all warped ska hooks assaulting a listener, while the title cut swings with a circular, woozy vibe. As always, the sound of Des Demonas remains in thrall to Nuggets-era garage rock, and Jacky still in debt to The Fall, but there are other shades here this time, enough to suggest growth for this band. Though that's not to say that their attack was lacking.
Of note here, "Black Orpheus Blues" has a shouty swagger that really rocks, and a pointed lyrical approach that gets the job done, while the angular "Control" finds Mark Cisneros offering up some of his best guitar-work for this band to date. The selection, along with the unholy "Ballad of Ike & Tina" finds Des Demonas re-upping their anarchic juices, fueling up on the coolest set of influences of any band working today. Is it any wonder that Kim Salmon from The Scientists wrote the blurb for this LP? If you've heard that band and this one, it makes perfect sense.
Cure For Love is out now via In The Red Records.
More details on Des Demonas via the band's Facebook page.
[Photo: me, 2018]