Brought up in working class Baltimore, Maryland, the Charm City Devils recently put out their sophomore album, and man it works. Harder and edgier tones accompany the band’s bluesy roots. SINS, released April 10 shows the group’s maturity throughout their tenure together. This newfound intensity that the album possesses kicks you directly in the teeth.
“When we came off of the road at the end of Cruefest 2, we all felt so pumped and excited to keep moving and growing. We were so blown away at the reaction that we didn’t want to lose that creative energy. We started laying down tracks and ideas for this record almost immediately,” frontman John Allen explains.
Ironically, the Devils gained incredulous amounts of exposure opening for Motley Crue on Cruefest 2 and Motley bassist Nikki Sixx was the one who originally suggested the band be called “Charm City Devils.”
The album’s highlight is the song “Man of Constant Sorrow” which has taken the radio by storm. It is a thunderous cover that draws your attention to the rest of the album and leaves you thirsty for more. “Spite” and “Unstoppable” are the one-two punch that complement each other. Comparing this trilogy of songs to their debut album, Let’s Rock-N-Roll, the overall sound has become progressively heavier instead of catering more to the bluesy side of the spectrum. “Still Alive” provides a nice contrast with clean guitar tones slowly transitioning into heavy distortion. These are easily the most prominent tracks on the album and are worthy to be mentioned. The latter are not necessarily fillers, but peacefully coexist amongst themselves. I like to think of this album as a mirror-image of Guns n’ Roses’ world renowned Appetite for Destruction. Tracks like “Paradise City”, “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, and “Mr. Brownstone” were staples at every Guns show and became instant classics while tracks like “Anything Goes,” and “It’s So Easy,” are kind of cast by the wayside although they are personal favorites of mine. Expect to hear from CCD in the future, they very well could be the next big thing.
