This ‘Devil’ Is Worth Knowing

Mon., July 19, 1999

Erin Haick Jenkins Grad

Econoline Crush

“The Devil You Know”

Econoline Crush hails from the Great White North and is one of those exports the Canadians rightly love, but so far Americans just don’t get.

Despite four excellent radio singles, the band just isn’t catching fire in the states, an injustice to their talent.

“The Devil You Know” starts strong with “Surefire,” a track that captures the band’s light, punchy style. Econoline Crush combines industrial-style drumming, programming and heavy guitars for a winning combination that isn’t drenched with angst and self-loathing. The drumming is crisp with a machine-like precision, but rest assured, this isn’t dance music.

The assorted bleeps and whistles of programming that echo through the album are non-invasive and actually add to the album’s mood.

Credit belongs to singer Trevor Hurst for adding a great deal of appeal and melody to Econoline Crush’s sound. Hurst’s voice is pleasant and melodic — something uncommon in a genre that seems to encourage singers to run their vocal chords through a meat grinder before singing.

Each song on the album seems designed to explore a new style within the band’s signature sound. “Deeper” is a slow rocker, an ode to a friend with AIDS. “Hollowman” is Econoline Crush at its most “crushing” and “All That You Are,” the latest single, is the hokiest, catchiest song on the album with a swaggering vocal-bass harmony that is pure ear candy.

About halfway through this album, I started wondering when it would go south. But Econoline Crush managed to stave off the demons of cliche melodrama and overuse until the last track, “Razorblades and Bandaids,” an overwrought, unwieldy excuse for a song that doesn’t even sound like the same band that brought us the light-but-heavy sound of “Home” and “Elegant.”

But it’s a small price to pay in an otherwise excellent album.

Grade: A

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