This certainly falls within the conflict of interest department, as these folks are good friends of mine, but the shoe they’re playing this weekend deserves special attention. The eminently brilliant folk punks in the Devil Makes Three are performing this Sunday at the Treasure Island Music Festival in San Francisco with the also brilliant Two Gallants, and a couple of up-and-coming bands named Spoon and Modest Mouse.

Take a listen to a couple of tracks off their last studio album, Longjohns, Boots and a Belt (buy it here):

Bangor Mash Bangor Mash (mp3 link)

Black Irish Black Irish

I’m not going to go above and beyond with contrived praise for a band whose catalog I know in and out, so in the interest of transparency here’s some bio/PR boilerplate I wrote for the band a while back:

A three-piece acoustic act with a rock ‘n’ roll heart, the Devil Makes Three can whip any crowd into a dancing frenzy as the band keeps one foot at the barn dance and one foot planted firmly on the gallows floor. Their latest release, the live recording A Little Bit Faster and A Little Bit Worse, shows the band in top form, recharging fan favorites such as “Beneath the Piano” while they turn folk classics such as “My Gal” into high-energy, demolition jug-band blues. The subtle twang of “Shades” is transformed into a bad-times ragtime stomper, while a double-time rendition of the traditional classic “St. James Infirmary” hits with the impact of a freightliner.

Raised in rural Vermont, the members kept their parents’ Reverend Gary Davis records as close to their hearts as their Fugazi 7-inches. Singer Pete Bernhard honed his fingerstyle guitar picking during a short stint on the unforgiving streets of Nashville, while lead guitarist Cooper McBean honed his unique ragtime-inflected style as his teenage peers banged out Motorhead riffs. All the while, bassist Lucia Turino developed a furious approach to her standup bass that renders a drummer unneccessary.

So yeah, that sums up my take on the band. Check ‘em out this weekend in the California sun while I try to nurse myself back to health here in an increasingly cold Chicago!