Kevin Devine/Owen – “Devinyl Splits No. 5” Review
Posted: by Sean Gonzalez
The last Devinyl had us hear a new Kevin Devine & The Goddamn Band track and Devinyl No. 5 has us in a more intimate, candlelit dinner with the songwriter. Both Owen and Kevin Devine play acoustic tracks for listeners. It’s not all acoustic guitars for the band that consists of the proclaimed godfather of emo (Mike Kinsella). Owen‘s offering – called “Critical Condition” – to the split is a reflective tune that features drums and a scratchy lead guitar to help Kinsella as he questions what life is offering him. “Can you keep a secret? I’m not okay. I hate my friends, I hate my face,” he croons through his wandering guitar lines. It’s a perfect song to cuddle up next to a fire and drink the hot chocolate to help soothe the soul.
“No One Says You Have To” has a bit more joy spilling out of Kevin Devine. Here we see Devine attempting to conquer the dark corners of his conscious with the help of a friend. One line that stuck out to me immediately was, “It gets so lonely inside my mind, I’m surrounded in love all the time.” Devine changes the refrain a bit upon each passing but he is searching for ways to quell his dark mind and this song seems to be the peace offering that all of us are looking for.
