Romancing No Evil***

There’s always room in your affections for a New York City troubadour like Devin Therriault. Romancing has plenty of the nonchalant, ramshackle, brash musical charm of the Big Apple. Indeed, you can tell from the first couple of strums that Therriault and his fellow dudes are walking the same mean streets as Johnny Thunders, New York Dolls and The Strokes.

The frontman is well able to pen a decent tune – Masochist and You're Mine, two slices of thundering garage rock, pack quite a wallop – but much of the time there's a bit of a lag between what he sets out to do and how it eventually sounds. His aim is true and his intentions are good, but Therriault just can't quite convince you that he has the songwriting nous it takes to sustain a full album right now. Still, it's a decent debut, overall. devinmusic.com

Download tracks:Masochist, You're Mine