DeVotchKa is an American band that melds a collection of influences into a … Read Full Bio ↴DeVotchKa is an American band that melds a collection of influences into a blend of rock 'n' roll.

The band's fifth album shows influences of the Arizona desert with producer Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Neko Case) to create a compendium of short stories inspired by the varied moments the band experienced since the release of A Mad & Faithful Telling (Anti-, 2007).

Like many bands, DeVotchKa spent much of their early years traveling the highways and byways searching for gigs and a musical direction. As time went on, the band began to foster important musical collaborations with the unequivocal Calexico and the seminal gypsy punks Gogol Bordello. International tours with Gogol and recordings with Calexico have helped spread the band’s sound around the globe.

Originally a backing band for burlesque shows, in their early years DeVotchKa also toured with fetish model Dita von Teese. Numerous nationwide tours in support of self-released records earned the band an underground following. Their song "How It Ends" introduced the band to a wider audience after being featured in the trailer for Everything Is Illuminated, in a Gears of War 2 trailer called "The Last Day", and in an episode of Everwood (Season 4).

Arcade Fire singer Win Butler suggested to DeVotchKa that they cover the Siouxsie and the Banshees song "The Last Beat of My Heart". The musicians found the idea interesting and they recorded that song for the now critically acclaimed Curse Your Little Heart EP. The band did a world tour in support of their previous album, A Mad & Faithful Telling (released March, 2008). The album reached No. 9 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 29 on the Top Independent Albums chart.["New World" and "Head Honcho" were featured in a season 4 episode of the Showtime television show Weeds.

DeVotchKa's first big break happened when Nic Harcourt, former music director for KCRW, introduced his listeners to a then unknown rock band of worldly sounds on his daily radio show, "Morning Becomes Eclectic". Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, who were listening that day, stumbled upon the sound for their movie, "Little Miss Sunshine". A critical and box office hit, the film was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and, for DeVotchKa's soundtrack, a Grammy. The little gypsy wedding band from Denver was suddenly known all across the US, playing large venues and major music festivals, including Coachella, Bumbershoot, Lollapalooza, and Mile High Music Festival. After years of toiling in obscurity, the band was selling out shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco and First Avenue in Minneapolis, with breakout performances at Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits Music Festival. The love spread to Europe, which has become a yearly destination for the band.

"100 Lovers" is the album DeVotchKa had always wanted to make. "How it Ends" was recorded and mixed in only nine days, mainly due to lack of funds. On "A Mad and Faithful Telling,” the band had more time and conducted complex arrangements and experimental recording techniques. For "100 Lovers", DeVotchKa spent over a year defining their sound, taking multiple trips to the desert studio to craft twelve new recordings. The final product is the bands strongest album to date, filled with songs fans will love, songs to draw in new listeners, and exciting numbers that fit nicely into their rousing live sets. Guests on the album include members of Calexico and Mauro Refosco, David Byrne and Thom Yorke’s go-to percussionist. With a full tour lined up for the spring and dates booked all over the world, 2011 is gearing up to be the biggest year for DeVotchKa yet.

DeVotchKa is:
Nick Urata: Vocals, guitars, Theremin, trumpet, piano
Jeanie Schroder: acoustic bass, sousaphone
Shawn King: drums, percussion, trumpet
Tom Hagerman: violin, viola, accordion, piano

The Alley
DeVotchKa Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's all the same for all of us
A sinking ship to place your trust
It seems so huge to leave to chance

Who among you can resist
Her fingers wrapped around your wrist
From the beast she pulls a lover
From this world you'll need no other

From this world you'll need no other

When it's all too much for you to take
Take a step back for heaven sake
It seems so foolish in this light

Who among you can resist
Unfurrowed brow and finger tips
From the beast she pulls a lover

From this world you'll need no other
From this world you'll need no other

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of DeVotchKa's song The Alley seem to convey a sense of surrender or resignation to fate, as if the world around us is a sinking ship and we have no choice but to trust it. The imagery of the sinking ship suggests a feeling of doom, but at the same time, it also implies a collective experience - that we're all in this together, that we're all facing the same problems, and that we're all going down together.

The second stanza adds an element of temptation to the mix, as if someone or something has the power to pull us away from the sinking ship - the beast mentioned in the lyrics - and offer us an escape, a lover that we won't need any other world for. This suggests a dualistic interpretation of the lyrics: either we give in to fate, or we seek an escape from it.

The reference to taking a step back in the third stanza suggests that sometimes we need to detach ourselves from the situation, to look at it from a different perspective. It seems foolish to trust the sinking ship when viewed from a distance, suggesting that sometimes our emotions or immediate reactions prevent us from seeing the bigger picture.

Overall, the song seems to offer a reflection on the human condition - how we deal with overwhelming situations, how we're often powerless in the face of fate, and how we're sometimes tempted to seek an escape from it.

Line by Line Meaning

It's all the same for all of us
We are all facing similar challenges in life

A sinking ship to place your trust
Relying on something that is doomed to fail

It seems so huge to leave to chance
Taking a big risk seems daunting

Who among you can resist
Who can refuse

Her fingers wrapped around your wrist
Being under someone's control

From the beast she pulls a lover
She finds comfort and love from what others may see as a bad situation

From this world you'll need no other
She is content with the love she has found and needs nothing else

When it's all too much for you to take
When you feel overwhelmed with life

Take a step back for heaven sake
Take a moment to relax

It seems so foolish in this light
In hindsight, it seems ridiculous

Unfurrowed brow and finger tips
Being calm and relaxed