Rockbites: Carlos release fourth album: Devil’s Slide

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April 2001 • Rockbites Alternative Daily

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Carlos release fourth album: Devil’s Slide
19 April 2001

Millbrae, California (just south of San Francisco) retro guitar rockers Carlos are masters of musical and lyrical understatement; they perform their fourth album Devil’s Slide, released this past Friday for the US, with such extreme ease and comfort that you could well mistake it for blithe indifference—or worse, you might think they don’t have much to say. The well-worn familiarity of their pre-grunge raucousness, at times reminiscent of the godlike but now passé UK quartet The Only Ones, or perhaps even of ’60s-’70s glitter icons T-Rex, only serves to underscore the impression.
    But please do not let their complacent façade fool you. These recovering stoners, as they call themselves, are dead serious about this project. Having left San Diego’s Headhunter Records/Cargo Music, Carlos signed last year to Amazing Grease—the SF indie label founded by Scott Kannberg, guitarist for the late, lamented Pavement. The band produced Devil’s Slide themselves with help from John Croslin (Guided By Voices, Spoon, Pavement), who recorded and mixed. Guitarist Richard Marshall (ex Alice Donut, The Foster Brooks, Kingdom First) joined the band in time to play on the record.
    The album’s twelve songs are, down to the last one, polished gems of heavy ’70s/’80s guitar rock. Front man Rich Scramaglia’s voice is not the most pleasing, but then neither was Peter Perrett’s or Marc Bolan’s. Liquidity and coziness aren’t always what the doctor orders when it comes to a rock and roll prescription. When Scramaglia sings you can’t help but know that he feels it down to the soles of his feet.
    With all its noise, Devil’s Slide sneaks up on you very quietly. Every sonic facet and emotional surface is polished and aligned just so, which you don’t see at first because it’s all a bit dark. But as the eyes adjust, the view pops into three dimensions and there it is all around you: finely balanced harmonies, subtle melodic and percussive layers... on layers... on layers, and pithy lyrics.
    You can find Devil’s Slide at better indie record shops and from online indie outlets such as Darla.com, or direct from Amazing Grease. Four bites out of five. | Carlos | | Amazing Grease Records | | Carlos on Cargo Music | | Darla.com | | discography | | top of page |

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