A.A. Bondy – When the Devil’s Loose
There’s something about AA Bondy which I love, despite there being no real surprises in his sound. It’s plain vanilla acoustic Americana, but it’s gentle and lovely and his voice is charismatic and believable.
Maybe it’s because his songs are really personal, and delivered in a weary, confidential tone, so you end up feeling like you’re actually having a conversation as he picks a slow path through his carefully constructed tales of normal unhappiness. He manages to be just a little poetic and just a little cryptic and in doing so lend just a little obvious craft to what are actually mostly domestic and personal songs. Generally though, these are confessional and couched in plain, simple language, giving them all the more impact.
There’s something quintessentially American about the delivery, rhythm and instrumentation. This reminds me very strongly of my time living over there, of living somewhere kind of rural, of drinking red wine late into the night with a new friend, and getting to that stage in the evening where you are drunk and tired enough that you start to tell one another about your failures and regrets. The stories are told with no shame, but the pain is still a little too fresh to be completely hidden, and suddenly on the basis of these confessions you find yourself forming a surprising bond with someone who would normally be much more of a stranger to you.
There is no really obviously infectious tune like Vice Rag to suck you into this album, unlike his last, so you have to make your way more slowly with the less radio-friendly stuff which actually is a lot more representative of the bulk of his work. But it’s immediate enough in its own way, in a very emotionally engaging way, and a way which makes you feel instantly at home and comfortable with the record.
No-one will prick their ears up the minute you put this on the stereo and demand to know who they’re listening to, but catch them when they’re a little more vulnerable and it should hit home pretty instantly!
A.A. Bondy – To the Morning
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A.A. Bondy – I Can See the Pines are Dancing
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agreed – have been enjoying this a lot – you know what you’re going to get, but he does it well
Yep. Although I will say that when I first heard False River the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Also, on two songs (the title track and the closer, a clattering beauty called The Coal Hits the Fire) the backing band is my beloved Felice Brothers, A.A. Bondy’s Felice-brothers-in-law.
Oooh, an Americana alt-folk supergroup!
Heard a track of theirs by accident recently and had been interested in finding out more, so thanks for this!