Demon Street by Billie Reid

"Taken from Billie Reid's own "Ticket Out Of Dizneyland" LP, the remixed single version of Demon Street is an angry and revved up interpretation of the more stripped back and acoustical original. The single captures axeman Phil Bradley at his fiery best, locked-in to a brutal Strummer-esque guitar attack whilst keeping perfect time with the track's stomping percussion, whilst Reid himself relays a tale of love and loss with the bile and poetic fervour of a punk troubadour.

Alongside the intensity of Bradley's playing and Reid's broken hearted, cut throat lyrics, the track is wrapped around the warped production sounds of 1950s b-movie science fiction, adding an extra dimension to the track. Invasion Of The Mind Snatchers this ain't, as Billie Reid recounts an encounter with a lascivious lover already tied to another man. “I had me the prettiest lover, prettiest lover in the land/ But she was the girl of another, and I couldn’t win her hand” he sings, before declaring himself a resident of Demon Street – a place, it is well understood, that is entirely devoid of enchanted lovers.

The song's lyrical contents are at once both spiky and poignant; in lesser hands the song could have come off as a mere exercise in navel gazing sentimentality. Instead Reid presents the listener with the fiery sound of defiance, defeating the sense of apathy commonly felt during a romantic break-up. Although he cherishes this woman, her lies have taken their toll on the fling. As Reid himself says, “I’m not about to waste my life on someone else’s whim”. Heartaches are for assholes, Reid says, and he takes those feelings that remain intact for his lover, mixing up a bitter brew of betrayal, torment and regret, whipped up into song form. Anger, he reminds us, is an energy; after all, when your world falls down, it's better to feel something rather than nothing at all.

Demon Street is sure to provide an ideal swig of Dutch courage for anyone undergoing a painful, messy breakup. Why mope around when you could, like Reid, count your losses and continue to kick ass? It's a song which highlights the value of self respect and pride, providing the perfect anaesthetist to the self-pitying indie bands that clog up the musical charts"

Farquhar Henderson

Our home here on Bandcamp is dedicated to the poetry and music of the enigmatic Billie Reid, Fremantle Chanteuse Lily and Perth crooner Wayne Halifax. It’s a super clear snapshot that captures these artists right on top of their game.

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