DEVOTCHKA
A Mad & Faithful Telling

Ever since people first learned to hollow out wood, attach strings and strum, folk music such as klezmer and polka has bred the world’s greatest punks. Most people didn’t know DeVotchKa until songs from its 2004 album, How It Ends, found their way into Little Miss Sunshine. Vocalist/guitarist/bouzouki/Theremin player Nick Urata (whose plaintive vocal wail could make concrete shiver), violinist/accordionist Tom Hagerman, sousaphone/bassist Jeanie Schroder and drummer/trumpeter Shawn King spent 10 years in obscurity perfecting their mad, whirling blend of folk forms. Now, with fourth album A Mad & Faithful Telling, they add crystal-clear production and simply allow the formula to move forward. “Basso Profundo” and “Comrade Z” hinge on flickering gypsy violin, while “Along The Way” offers a loping, romantic melody spiked with mariachi trumpet. Elements of soft-as-velvet goth pop creep in for the delicate “Transliterator” and swooning album closer “New World.” With its waltz rhythm and oompah bass, “Blessing In Disguise” feels like a merry-go-round drenched in cabernet. Only one thing may disappoint longtime fans about Faithful Telling: DeVotchKa no longer feels like a closely guarded secret. [Anti-, www.anti.com]

—Tizzy Asher