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The Onion (A.V. Club)

Urata's slurred warble leaps into soaring vibrato, and the group's eerie throb of violin, accordion, and sousaphone has never felt so cinematic.

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Entertainment Weekly

It's a rare group that can make you wistful while wielding a caravans worth of instruments like a theremin, accordian, and sousaphone. [28 Mar 2008, p.67]

Austin Chronicle

Devotchka's captured the sound of a new world order.

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Spin

A sultry brew of Gypsy, Mexican, and pop ingredients that's adorably silly and unexpectedly moving. [Mar 2008, p.100]

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Uncut

A Mad & Faithful Telling is an impeccably titled album [Apr 2008, p.88]

Alternative Press

Their songs have a weight beyond the bell and whistles, retaining your interest once the shock of new sounds and the novelty of genre-hopping is gone. [Apr 2008, p.152]

All Music Guide

Bouncing from Mexico City to Prague to Milan to Denver over the course of ten songs, DeVotchKa's fourth full-length shows a band aging gracefully and eccentrically.

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Billboard

Denver-based Devotchka delivers another batch of aching, spacious and histrionic tunes on A Mad and Faithful Telling.

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NOW Magazine

Everything is worth hearing, but frenetic waltz-meets-hora dance track Comrade Z is a definite standout. This isn’t quite as fun as Gogol’s music, but it’s more thoughtful than DeVotchKa’s Gypsy punk brethren.

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The Guardian

Their best songs are epic and emotional, and range from the sweeping strings and south-of-the-border brass of 'Along the Way' to the European Gypsy influences of 'Comrade Z.'

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Pitchfork

Something mysteriously blocks this very good record from being great.

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Lost At Sea

If the choice comes down to being obvious or oblique, the band could take a forty-five minute saunter down the road less musically traveled. When they do, I'm hedging that the result will be a masterwork. Until then, releases like A Mad and Faithful Telling will be as engaging as anything that has come before, but will only offer hints at what these colorful characters might do when they finally release the catapult.

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Boston Globe

DeVotchKa's fifth album, A Mad and Faithful Telling, is an accomplished if meandering variation on its punk-rock mariachi horns and Roma rhythms.

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Under The Radar

DeVotchKa pulls off their melting pot persona. [Spring 2008, p.82]

Village Voice

'Basso Profundo,' sticks out like a sore thumb, overindulging the band's penchant for melting-pot quirk before the listener's had a chance to acclimate, throwing off the balance of an otherwise perfectly paced album.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

A Mad & Faithful Telling, however, comes off as their most focused and researched work yet, incorporating traditional and pop culture aspects without getting cluttered or seeming like they’re trying too hard to find a niche.

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PopMatters

Faithful Telling remains a strong, deliciously eclectic album.

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Paste Magazine

While A Mad and Faithful Telling--the band’s first album of all original material since 2004’s "How it Ends"--doesn’t exactly break new ground, it offers a much fuller realization of dynamic and structural sensitivity.

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MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

Although Nick Urata can't match pipes with Richard Hawley, a plus in a way, he's hawking mellifluous overstatement flavored with a nostalgia far enough past its sell-by date that it stinks a little.

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Rolling Stone

What leader Nick Urata does on his big indie debut is pretty straightforward: make dance music and ballads with drama and kitsch.

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Blender

Lively and ingenious combinations of glockenspiel, theremin, tuba, accordion, strings and mariachi horns promise more emotional depth than Nick Urata's world-weary tenor warble delivers. [May 2008, p.75]

Q Magazine

DeVotchKa's preference for songs that don't necessarily result in feverish fopsweat actually serve to highlight much mongrel charm. [Apr 2008, p.107]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Sam J gave it a9:
It is not just the vocals of "A Mad & Faithful Telling" that hit the spot, but (as of every DeVotchKa album) the music itself is good enough to achieve a '8' . A whole instrumental version of this album would be overall postive, and then there is the vocals, that give it one extra push. There is a vast amount of songs with vocals which are amazing, then the short instrumental tracks like "Comrade Z" which sounds amazing on their own. You notice yourself not thinking " when are the vocals going to begin?" and just enjoying the music. I think "Basso Profundo" will be one of my top tens this year.

Steve O. gave it an8:
Overall its a decent album. He has a unique voice. Im looking forward to a future release.

Liam O gave it a9:
Excellent album.

Mathew P. gave it a10:
Amazing album. Love the diversity and the range of sounds used here. Transiliterator is my song of the year so far!

Eric E. gave it a10:
It's strange if you look at the reviews that culminate in this record receiving an 84, but they're all incredibly positive. For my take, I think this is a better record than 'How it ends' which is saying a lot. It's visionary, highly emotional, (manic, lovelorn, exultant, weeping, furious) and it just sounds great. If you haven't heard this band, there's nothing that sounds like it musically- sweeping strings. I can't even begin to explain. And the singer is on caliber with Jeff Buckley, Roy Orbison, whomever... outstanding. Clockwise Witness, Along the Way, Undone. Start there.

Brad G. gave it an8:
I'm really enjoying it so far. It's far too early to tell if I like it more that "How it Ends", but I'll give it time.

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A Mad & Faithful Telling

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