When I first heard the opening seconds of "Devil in Jersey City" -- the third track off SSTB (short for Second Stage Turbine Blade) -- I had to stop listening. I admit it, I had to. The singing was just so high-pitched it caught me off guard. I shuddered thinking how much the rest of the album would be like this. I should point out that my first experience with this album and with this song was via the band's MySpace page where, at the time, this was the only song off the album they had up. Thus, I had not heard "Time Consumer," "Delirium Trigger" or any of the others, and so I could not really make a well-informed opinion of the song in relation to the rest of the album just yet.

After not listening to the song for a little while I realized that, in spite of the vocals, the opening riff hooked me even in those brief fifteen or so seconds that I listened. That chug of the rhythm guitar being handed out by Claudio Sanchez, the upbeat lead by Travis Stever, the groove of Mic Todd on bass, and Josh Eppard's quick bass and snare work all made me want to go back and listen, and really give the song a better chance. I had listened to and grown to love their third album, which was the first Coheed record I ever experienced, and I wanted to be able to appreciate the rest of their music.

The long story short is that by the end of the song I got over the vocals. They still bothered me a bit (call me shallow if you want, but it took me a while to like Claudio's singing), but I had a new found appreciation for the music. Quickly, it became the top favorite and most played song in my then small Coheed library. Though I wouldn't say Coheed's third album never had poppy hits, this was a far different style of pop and it appealed to me. In fact, I noticed there was even a slightly different style altogether with the song in comparison to their later work. Not to say that bands don't change, but this was different. Keep note of this, as this change becomes a big part of their career.

I love this song and it has a special place in my heart. It's upbeat and catchy from the beginning chord to the last note and that last bit at the end ("When you run, they'll follow you") gives me pleasant chills every time.

It's also funny for me to call this upbeat considering the story element of the song --  namely, the rape of a character named Josephine by a gang called the Jersey City Devils (see what Claudio did there with clever song title naming?) and the subsequent murder of the same character by her own father! I wish I were kidding, but that's the story. There is a self-justified reason for him committing such an act on his own daughter, although it turns out this was all an elaborate lie by the bad guys to achieve domination. Good stuff, huh? Overall, I believe it showcases the band's sense of humor, albeit twisted; that is, the ability to turn something serious and traumatic and make it sound positive through a style of music.

And I end this with review with a brief shot of the band playing this song in 2006 at the Glass House in Pomona, CA: