The Nice Device
Birth of a Lover
Self Released
Despite living in Detroit, I haven’t developed much of a taste for any band in the city’s unending garage rock scene. This EP by The Nice Device, though, is going some way to make at least one band palatable. The band is pop at heart, usually coming off like the middle ground between The Donnas and the Josie & The Pussycats soundtrack. The group isn’t one note, though, offering pleasant deviations from the formula with the Sabbath-lite, E-string riffer “How Low How Obscene” and the moody Blondie-esque new wave, “Never Be My Man.” Songwriter, singer and only female member Alicia Gbur has a gift of late ’70s melodies, and her quavering but strong voice might be the band’s strongest weapon. It might not be enough to revive a genre that’s better off dead, but this is one of the better sounds I’ve heard come out of my city recently.
The Nice Device: http://www.thenicedevice.com
