On Inauguration Day, lots of people were out celebrating our new commander in chief, but only a small, familiar crowd chose to celebrate at the Vera Project with charming Los Angeles–based songwriter Devon Williams. The baby-faced Williams was happy to amuse the small crowd with jokes about how his grandmother missed his last Seattle show because she passed away (in fact, she's very much still alive and sends him money for candy every Valentine's Day), and more importantly, with his strong, syrupy singing voice. Admittedly, his 2008 debut album, Carefree, didn't impress me upon first hearing it, but this show was something else. He played an orange guitar, the color of a runaway forest fire, which produced a warm, classic jangle, sounding like a reverby sleigh bell. Whether backing him on somber rockers reminiscent of Hatful of Hollow or Phil Spector–like doo-wop with repetitive choruses, Williams's band rose and fell to match every triumphant crescendo and subtle croon of his perfectly pained voice. It's always exciting when a live performance moves you to revisit an album you might have prematurely dismissed, and last week's show has got me running back to my turntable to give Carefree another chance.
-The Stranger, Seattle

Dust off those old Carefree records and let ol' baby-faced Williams croon for you...

Following them was an L.A. based band called Devon Williams who were swimming in catchy tunes that swung wildly between whispy love songs circa 1960 and balls-out southern rock sounds—and the band totally went for broke. As I'm a fan of borderline excessive guitar, I bought a CD. (The merch guy was un-ironically thrilled! I love indie bands!) You gotta fall for Devon Williams, they put on a high-energy show. –ign.com (I think this is a video game blog)

Souther rock, eh? It's about time I was recognized for my excessive guitar sytlings...

Since first hearing “A Truce” late last year, I’d been looking forward to an opportunity to see LA singer-songwriter Devon Williams. The song is the sort of buoyant twee pop that Belle and Sebastian so excelled at it, and it was a set highlight last night for Williams and his band, who were performing their second ever show together. A trio sporting a guitar-bass-drums lineup, the set featured a heavier emphasis on jangly electric guitar than I’d expected, lending Williams’ songs an 80s Brit-rock feel punctuated by an exuberant cover of The Only Ones’ “Miles From Nowhere.” It was a strong performance overall, blemished only by some awkward between-song banter that included such not-destined-to-become-classic bits as “What’s the deal with the name ‘Noise Pop’?” and “Let’s hear some jokes!” –thebaybridged.com

Oh geez... twee like Belle and Sebastian- i think not. Awkward jokes? This doesn't sound like me at all....

His Carefree album is a gloriously ornate batch of smart-pop tunes, not just unusually well written but also wonderfully arranged.
– LA Weekly

It's simply one of the most straightforwardly gorgeous pop albums released in some time. Carefree is an increasingly rare example of mature songwriting that retains the essential teenage qualities that define good rock 'n' roll.
–SF Weekly

Williams' collision of robust guitars and twee orchestration suggests '80s UK jangle-rock on a collision course with Sufjan Stevens.
–Emusic

The production sparkles with reverb and cavernous drums, and from the marching strings of "Please Be Patient" to the harmonized girl-group "ooh-oohs" of "One and One," Williams has found a context in which his lush tenor can really soar.
–Paste Magazine

He's just released a solo record of heavily orchestrated pop crooners cobwebbed with Harry Nilsson's wistful romanticism, the Everly Brothers' rhythmic urgency, and the mighty sonic wall of Phil Spector.
–Pitchfork

The album's charms, while immediately striking, grow stronger with repeated listens, as the over-familiarity wears off and the hooks and intelligent lyrics rise to the surface.
–LA Record

This show was my third choice for this second part of my concert review series. But I was already familiar with the music of my first two picks, and at the last minute I had listened to Devon Williams' music online and thought it would be something I'd wouldn't have to try hard to like. Needless to say, I was not prepared for how great Devon Williams and his band really were. When they took the stage, they, or at least Devon and the initial drummer, seemed to be in a bedraggled state. I wasn't sure if this was due to exhaustion, being at the end of their emotional tether because of a rough day, being drunk or a combination of a number of these factors. But none of that mattered because Willams and company delivered one of the most powerful, impassioned shows that I've seen from a pop band in longer than I'd care to think about. Calling Devon Williams merely a singer-songwriter doesn't do justice to his talent. Every song of his put to shame a lot of the indie rock receiving the lion's share of kudos from the mainstream press. Live, the guy is a force of nature, and I couldn't help but be mesmerized by guitar work that was atmospheric, melodic and electrifying, like the guy listened to a lot of Echo and the Bunnymen and Let's Active. So much of the interplay of guitar also reminded me of the Call, if those guys were less straight ahead rock and quite a bit dreamier.

Throughout his set, Williams sang with a passion that contorted his face revealing the strain of not holding back any feelings. There was a good deal of eccentrically hilarious and sometimes awkward stage banter but it all came off smart. There was some technical difficulty with a guitar, but overall, the show never lost momentum, mostly because there was so much energy coming from the stage. These are artists who give a lot to the audience and their songs are all beautiful pieces of inspired pop music with great deal of intelligence and heart. If anything, the frayed live show brought those qualities out in a way that a record never really can.
-- Tom Murphy

LA Record put out our A Truce/Elevator 7". They are super nice:

Devon Williams' debut record Carefree has just been released. He insisted on watching the Glen Campbell Good Time Hour DVD during this interview. Interview by Frankie Delmane.

You recently toured with the much-venerated Destroyer. How was that?
Really nice. They're the only current band—other than Outrageous Cherry—who I really like. I think that Destroyer are the most fun and musically exciting band for me, like, right now. There's no other band that I'd rather see, or go on tour with, except for Thee Makeout Party. Have you heard thee Makeout Party?
I saw them about two years ago. The singer had a voice that made me want to smash his face in.
I love their new record. It's really good.
Why so many line up changes? Explain yourself.
Before all of this, I had a project that I gave a name to. When that fell apart, I was tired of playing under band names if it was just me all the time. I really hated the idea of, like, bands that were just one guy—like Nine Inch Nails.
I call those 'quote unquote bands.'
The feeling I had with the album was that I really like who I was playing with—Alan and our friend Greg. We instantly had a lot of really good chemistry. I could write three songs in one night with them and bring it to practice and it would just be awesome. That worked out really well, but that dynamic got old, so we just kinda fell apart. There would be other people to play with, like Jessica. Adam [Payne of Residual Echoes] filled in. Adam's a really great drummer. I would love to make a record with Adam. His style is so loose. I guess I just like how Bob Dylan always has different musicians playing on his records. It keeps it interesting. I wanna make another album with Alan and Adam and Lana and Peter, but what do I do? Get a band name now?
Call it Devon Williams and the Motherfuckers.
Unless you're, like, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, every band name sucks.
Your debut is titled Carefree, but on the spine it's listed as Careerfree. A possible statement?
The "Careerfree" thing was suppose to be an inside thing, like, it could be our stance. Our message, maybe. Then it became the thing I would get e-mails about. Some guy in Japan was like 'Which is your newest record—Carefree or Careerfree?'
So you had to keep explaining it.
No. I don't reply to e-mails.
What is the story behind the song 'One and One'?
After I quit my record store job, I didn't have an apartment and I was subletting my friend Josh's place. I think I was depressed. Mildly depressed. Not seeing eye to eye with people, where I felt I couldn't get along 'right' with others. Or not deal with small talk. When I went out I felt like I couldn't relate. I couldn't do it. So I was just depressed. That song is contrary to the idea that if I found some one to be in a relationship with, that I would feel better. Musically at the time I was really into the Blue Nile and Aztec Camera.
Oh, Roddy Frame does that to people.
Yeah. That's the gist of that one—that's the song.
You're also a fan of another one of my favorites, the Go-Betweens. What's your favorite record of theirs?
Spring Hill Fair. I love Grant McClennan. 'Bachelor Kisses' is one of my favorite songs. I think 'River Of Money' is one of the coolest songs.
And what has motivated you over the years to keep doing this—playing and writing music?
I look to music to really move me. Like why I really like Glen Campbell—it's bouncy, it's good, it speaks to a bit of the sappy side in me. My dad listened to the Beach Boys and the Everly Brothers and Dion. So that's my blueprint for great songs, and I've always been a fan of trying to write a great song that could stand the test of time and taste. I mean, in high school, there's the stuff I learned how to play guitar to, like Fifteen and Screeching Weasel…
For me it was Fang and the Troggs.
So that—fortunately or unfortunately—is how I learned to play guitar.
Or figured out chords.
Exactly.
What do you consider your best song?
I think 'Elevator,' up till now, is the best song I've ever written.
Tell us about your Replacements cover band.
It's me and Greg and Adam and Alan. It is now our goal to get Tommy Stinson to come play with us. I know he's gotta be hanging around.
Yeah—I saw him at the Raspberries show recently.
Was he hanging out with Axl Rose?
What about your desert experience searching for the elusive Greg Sage?
I don't think there is anything shameful about hero worship. Last summer when we were touring we were listening to the Wipers' Silver Sail, which is like the sound track for desert rats. We found the compound that his studio was located in. It's a fenced-in area, with maybe two houses and a studio. We were knocking on the studio door, and we figured he wasn't there. And then we turn around and he was there, kind of lurking, and then he realized what was going on. We weren't really there to harass him—we just wanted to maybe talk about 'D7.' Or something. We told him where we were playing, but he wasn't having it. He told us that he was not going to come, informing us that he had to go because he had 'cats in the bath.' We swear that's what we heard him say.
Recently I read a review of your LP which stated that it was somewhat of a genre exercise. What genre would that be?
Uh, action, romantic comedy. A little foreign cinema.

Devon Williams

Devon Williams spent much of the last year touring as a member of Lavender Diamond and opening for Destroyer. But the Los Angeles songwriter managed to fit in a little bit of alone time, too. Over the course of 18 months and three studios, Williams recorded his full-length debut, Carefree, a quaint but confident album that one could legitimately call "intelligent pop music" (some prefer the term "a grower"), inspired by the likes of Alex Chilton and the Go Betweens. It's a collection of songs that take their time sinking in, and hint at something more significant than search results on Hype Machine. A final sheen was added by his pal Steve Gregoropoulous, of Lavender Diamond, who supplemented Williams' guitar work with pristine string arrangements. Carefree is out now on Ba Da Bing Records.

1. The Beach Boys - Today
My bandmate Peter really hates Mike Love, but LOVES the Beach Boys. He has a button with red line going through Love's face, and after watching some early TV performances, it's easy to see why: Mike Love - hammin' it up, takin' the credit. Thankfully, Today is where Love gets kind of out of his element. Where "Little Deuce Coup" may be the budding of Brian Wilson's complex songwriting, Today really shows how much Wilson admired Spector - and this album shows Wilson tackling subject matter equal to his complexity.

2. Clifford T. Ward - Home Thoughts
Through and through, Home Thoughts is the most beautiful album. I first heard "Wherewithall" on a comp, and loved it. Upon first listening, I for sure thought the first song was the best song, NO, the second one is the best song, NO wait!... I finally decided that "Where would that leave me" is the most perfect pop song, with "Nightingale" a close second. "Home Thoughts From Abroad" was voted one of the best songs of England. He sings, "Oh, and by the way, how's your broken heart?" -It's so earnest, some feel compelled to laugh, whereas, I feel utterly and completely moved.

3. The Church - Heyday
The Church mastered guitar interplay forevermore, and almost three decades since they began, they're still making really great records (Uninvited Like the Clouds). Before they got a little too bloated (Gold Afternoon Fix), they were on a super streak with Séance, Remote Luxury, Heyday, and Starfish, the high point being Heyday. The band's subdued moments can be described as atmospheric, whereas Heyday leans more to the straightforward songs, never letting up - "Disenchanted," "Tristesse." This band is why I use a chorus pedal on a 12-string guitar.

4. Destroyer - This Night
I love this album, the first guitar notes of the opening track "This Night" do something very special to me. When we had the "fortune" to tour with them, I harangued them until they actually did play "This Night," and when they did play it I found myself front row, singing along like a superfan. I transcended everything and lost myself in the eternal moment. The album is fragile yet loud, with a verbose Dan Bejar holding it together. Smack in the middle of the record is the righteous "Modern Painters" where Bejar sings: "You could always stay in tonight, and see if what the walls have been whispering is right … I mean, that shit is right up your alley, isn't it?" Their new album Trouble In Dreams might be even better than This Night and that says a lot coming from me… the superfan

5. FYP - My Man Grumpy
FYP were from San Pedro, and though they broke up, their self-sustaining community continues to make super fun music and put on great shows. Their Toilet Kids Bread album was a big step in the pop direction, but My Man Grumpy was a step in the great songs direction. Short great songs with lines like "Your PhDs, you can shove 'em / Your SAT's can make like a tree and leave."

6. The Go Betweens - Spring Hill Fair
I myself am a Grant McLennan man, so even I am surprised to say this is my favorite Go Betweens album, because it's heavy on the Forrester. But this 1984 record starts with the most-earnest "Bachelor Kisses" and ends with my favorite Forrester "Man o' Sand." McLennan, who wrote the sweetest pop songs, placed his most un-pop song "River of Money" here and its inclusion serves as a huge breath for the listener to just simply listen - "It was only the wind in the curtains brushing against the open strings." I can't really stress how much this band impacted me so quickly.

7. The Replacements - Tim
I heard the Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me when I was 15. Still long after their hey-day and break up. I inadvertently started with their latter, polished side, which is probably why I can listen to Don't Tell a Soul and sincerely call it one of their best. But Tim is where their Sorry Ma stage met their love of pop. "Left of the Dial," "Little Mascara" – these songs should be the bar by which bands should be measured - a lot of heart and so much power. We have a Replacements cover band in L.A. called Puzzle, and after a show at The Smell, a nice girl came up and said she thought "our" band was "cute," but she didn't know that those weren't our songs at all. Me and Allen thought that was "cute." We are still waiting for Tommy Stinson to sit in with us.

8. Nirvana (U.K.) - The Story of Simon Simeopath
A 14-year-old me once stumbled across the U.K. Nirvana in the U.S. Nirvana bin, but didn't hear them until seven years later, who I now proudly claim as the best 60s band. This is the first REAL concept album pre-dating Sgt. Pepper's (which isn't really a concept album, just costumes and a reprisal of songs – lazy). "Courtyard of the Stars" and "Pentecost Hotel" are otherworldly baroque pop, and their follow up All of Us is equally as beautiful. In summation, Nirvana U.K. is better than the '90s Nirvana and the Beatles.

9. The Everly Brothers - Heartaches and Harmonies Box Set
In 1973, Phil Everly smashed his guitar and stormed off the stage at an Everly Brothers show at Knott's Berry Farm. The next night at a solo show, Don Everly declared that the Everly Brothers had died 10 years prior. The Everly Brothers definitely have a golden period, but with harmonies this majestic, their worst songs still shine brighter than the best of others. I get chills when I hear the demo of "Hey Doll Baby," hearing the chatter before the strum of the first chord, hearing the two voices align … it's criminal how good they are. Disc Two is my most played with "Carol Jane" and "Love Her."

10. Honorable mentions:
I really don't think I could've made Carefree without hearing Barry Ryan's song "The Color of My Love." The first time I heard it, I listened to it, oh… about 200 times in my car. It still is the perfect song to me. Same goes for the heavy synth work of The Chameleons on What Does Anything Mean? Basically, "One Flesh" and "P.S. Goodbye" are my blueprints for synth work. Same goes for half of Prefab Sprout's Two Wheels Good.

Hey y'all, tomorrow we leave for tour, and it will also mark my first time in...
"visalia"....
then we'll be in anacortes and then vancouver; all leading up to our first show on may 13th with destroyer which will take us up and down the west coast, and hopefully we'll show these canadian bastards how to complain and spend money California style...

May 8 2008 Cellar Door - Visalia, CA
May 10 2008 Department of Safety - Anacortes, WA
May 11 2008 TBA - Vancouver (email me for deets)
May 13 2008 Starlight (Edmonton) w/ Destroyer
May 14 2008 1 Royal Canadian Legion Hall (Calgary) w/ Destroyer
May 16 2008 Urban Lounge (Salt Lake City) w/ Destroyer
May 17 2008 Beauty Bar (Las Vegas) w/ Destroyer Las Vegas, Nevada
May 18 2008 Rhythm Room (Phoenix) w/ Destroyer
May 19 2008 Troubadour (L.A.) w/ Destroyer
May 20 2008 Casbah (San Diego) w/ Destroyer
May 21 2008 The Independent (San Francisco) w/ Destroyer
May 23 2008 Aladdin Theater (Portland) w/ Destroyer

May 13th also marks a very, VERY special day... it marks the release of our/my magnum opus "Carefree" (to be confused with the same album "Careerfree").
You can order it online at ba da bing, or you can just bother your local record store if they still exist:
badabingrecords.com/catalog.php

Equally great news is that The Smell's olFactory Records just released the vinyl of Carefree complete with radical color insert collage ...
http://www.thesmell.org/olfactory/?page_id=19

We'll also have new shirts for sale!!!!!!

And when the Destroyer tour is all said and done and in the history books of something, something... we have some surprise shows on may 30 and may 31st in LA at a surprise venue... i love surprises...
Then, we're playing Part Time punks at the echo on June 8th for a record release.
THENNNNNNN, we'll be playing Amoeba Records on June 17th with a string quartet.

geez.

Before we run away to get famous at sxsw, here's a review of our show friday at the echoplex with goddess Leslie and the Ly's...

Los Angeles' own Devon Williams opened the night with his backup band, the Allen Bleyle 3. I was elated when Williams played a cover of "Alex Chilton" towards the end of his set, not just because it's a killer song, but specifically because one of the notes I scribbled down in the first few minutes of Williams' playing was "Waiting for Somebody." The same feeling of whimsical mischief felt when listening to Westerberg's love song from the 1992 Singles soundtrack is aroused when hearing Williams' innocent pop guitar and string arrangements. Just as The Replacements sound like the lighthearted black sheep of the early 90s (compositionally, not lyrically) when occasionally/awkwardly lumped into the same category as grunge superpowers Nirvana and Alice in Chains, Williams' work stands out as effervescent defiance in the face of the indulgent psychadelia that is getting much of the local attention. Spindrift, Entrance, and Devendra Banhart are all acts that I have written about and very much appreciate, but Williams is unique in that he refuses to be another psych-folk-blues musician in Los Angeles. He's just not having it. Instead, Williams writes refreshingly light tunes tinged with Westerberg-like self deprecation that could have been fitting on the soundtrack of any My So Called Life episode: songs for being distraught, but laughing about it.

I didn't get to hear my favorite Devon Williams song, "Elevator," which is played in house music rotation these days at Spaceland, and I'm not sure if that's because I walked in a bit late or because he has decided he's had enough of it and won't play it anymore. I hope it's not the latter, Mr. Williams, because that is a damn beautiful, nearly perfect song, clearly crafted with precision and dedication.
Devon Williams will be releasing a new record on Ba Da Bing! this April.
-Rena Kosnett

We are pleased to have found a home for our record!!! New York's Ba Da Bing Records have graciously taken our beloved "CAREFREE" and decided to release it on April 29^th 2008. We love Ba Da Bing and are very, very happy!

 In unrelated but relevant news, we will be touring with Destroyer on their 2008 west coast dates for their new record.

 05-13 Edmonton, Alberta - Starlight
05-14 Calgary, Alberta - 1 Royal Canadian Legion Hall
05-16 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
05-18 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
05-19 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
05-20 San Diego, CA - Casbah
05-21 San Francisco, CA - Independent
05-23 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
05-31 Vancouver, British Columbia - The Commodore

THEN! We'll be going on our national tour…which means across the country.