TYLA J PALLAS – The Devil’s Supper

Shane | 28 August 2013 | Reply

Label: Cargo Records
Released: June 2013
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8.5/10

Tyla, The Bulletproof Poet of cult not-quite-glam-or-blues favourites Dogs D’Amour is back with his twenty-somethingth solo album and it’s one of his best in years, featuring a full band flying under the extended Tyla J Pallas flag.

The Devil’s Supper, as upbeat as this wry and battered old poet ever gets, will likely strike a chord with fans of the old Dogs, as the man’s wit and weariness balance especially well in this collection of songs about love in all its joy, mystery and heartbreaking sadness.

An artist in the true sense of the word, there’s no “party all night” banality here – through 15 rocking blues tracks we’re invited into the sometimes dark (but ever hopeful) heart of a man who has lived hard n’ fast and emerged older, wearier and wiser.

Keys, strings, horns and even a squeezebox punctuate and provide extra depths to songs equally heartwarming and heartwrenching. Green Eyed Girl’s trumpets lend a mariachi feel, The Meaning Of Fortune And Fame’s riff has shades of Gimme Shelter and Yeah (I Love You Baby) is a boisterous shuffle about a wicked woman – just a few of the high points herein.

The Devil’s Supper sees Tyla embracing his own past and that of his music, delivering beautiful poetry (“if you stand up strong and shout out loud/ somebody may hear you in the maddening crowd/ and that someone is all you’ll ever need” – That Someone) and music to touch the soul, culminating in the evocative 6 ½ minute long Ode To Jackie Leven, celebrating Scottish folk muso Leven. This track provides a side to Tyla most won’t have seen before, and of course, his ever-present droll humour comes into play when he follows that tear-jearker with Wisdom, featuring the sardonic refrain “My baby knows everything” over a sparse Robert Johnson-esque blues.

http://www.tylasarttavern.com/

This review was originally published in X-Press Magazine’s 31st July 2013 issue