Crooked Fingers – Red Devil Dawn – Review

Crooked Fingers

Red Devil Dawn (Merge)
by Tim Den

It might be sonically wrong to compare the two, but Crooked Fingers sure does remind me a lot of The Boss. It must be the “man on the street” observations, the “down on your luck” reflections, the “shooting straight from the hip” vocal delivery… or maybe just cuz both of ’em write unmistakably American songs about loss, pain, and redemption. The ex-Archers of Loaf frontman (Eric Bachmann) digs deep into his truckstop/whiskey heart and comes up with sinisterly pretty odes to life, making even the bleakest of situations sound like symphonies. If Tom Waits is the burlesque/carnival bizarro kaleidoscope, Crooked Fingers is the American diner where we eat together and listen to the radio.
(PO Box 1235 Chapel Hill, NC 27514)