The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Nominate-best-2010

Tuesday: AA Bondy at Great Scott

We've been privately gushing over former Verbena frontman Scott AA Bondy's solo record American Hearts (Fat Possum) for about a year now -- we doubt that he'd consider it a compliment to hear us compare it to anything as cliche as Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker or the first Velvet Underground album, but that's unironic high praise in this cube. Roots music in 2008 is all about lumberjack beards and creaky falsettos, which we love as much as the next Horse Feathers fan, but Bondy's mostly-alone-with-a-guitar phase is firmly pre-indiefolk-revival, with its insistence on rasp and clear-eyed mumble and even the occasional no-bullshit protest song. In any other year (say, even 2007, when it was released), the title track's plea for a distinction between heartfelt patriotism and blind nationalism would've sounded like just another coffeehouse pipe dream; the closer we got to November 5, though, the more we found ourselves revisiting it as an anthem for a new era. "Killed myself when I was young," he sings on a song by that name, "with my finger on the poison gun," and by all accounts he nearly did during the Verbena years, which most people who remember them at all will remember for the Dave Grohl-produced album the band put out after Bondy had apparently developed an unhealthy obsession with Kurt Cobain. American Hearts reminded us, though, how much we loved Verbena's 1997 debut Souls for Sale, an album that squirreled away the best parts of the Stones Sticky Fingers and the Stooges Raw Power, but also contained a fucked-up love ballad so gorgeous that they pre-emptively titled it "The Song That Ended Your Career," presumably to ward off the indie-cred goons of the era.

American Hearts is older and darker and maybe even wiser, verging on spooky, especially on the handclaps-as-thunderclap-as-gunshot percussion on "How Will You Meet Your End," a song with lyrics as stark and bleak as a Flannery O'Connor story and a crackling fingerpicked melody that seems to have crawled out of the same earth that Doc Boggs used to tread. Lord knows what kind of deal a man's got to strike to be able to summon up those spirits. But we're stoked to finally get a glimpse up close when Bondy takes the stage tonight at Great Scott. If you can't make it, you'll regret it -- but w'e'll have the OTD cameras there and some live footage up next week. In the meantime...

DOWNLOAD: AA Bondy,"There's A Reason" (mp3)

Filed Under: , ,
1222 Commonwealth Ave, Allston-Brighton

Great Scott’s décor is, in a word, random. International flags suspended from the ceiling, glossy...

  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article

Leave a Comment

Login | Not a member yet? Click here to Join
Follow the Phoenix
  • newsletter
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • rss
All Blogs
Filed Under: , ,
Related Articles

Boston Phoenix
MP3: Casey Dienel goes Gaga on White Hinterland's new Kairos
Published 1/7/2010 by Carly Carioli
New England Conservatory-trained indie chanteuse CASEY DIENEL -- operating once again under her WHITE HINTERLAND moniker -- has unveiled the first glimpse of her next...

Boston Phoenix
Microsoft plans for Xphone
Published 12/30/2009 by Maddy Myers
The above image - the "Xune" - is a years-old fantasy of A.J. Kandy's. It's an Xbox 360-inspired version of Microsoft's mp3 player, the Zune,...

more by Carly Carioli
Walking Edge: The iPhone app that killed Coakley | January 21, 2010
Glenn Beck on Senator Scott Brown: "This one could end with a dead intern." | January 20, 2010
Why Martha Coakley's loss wasn't about health care -- and what Barney Frank can do about it | January 20, 2010
New Facebook fan page: 1000 people Flip the Bird at the Voters of Massachusetts | January 19, 2010
Massachusetts polls are closed: Democrats bracing for a Coakley loss | January 19, 2010

 See all articles by: Carly Carioli

ADVERTISEMENT
Latest Video
OTD Categories
Out
VIDEO: Arctic Monkeys at the House of Blues
Rare Frequencies
Rare Frequencies: Trouble and treble
Playlists
Lady Lee's Lion's Den Playlist
MP3 of the Week
HOMEWORK: Assignment #2: D-Tension
Hot Tix
Ticket On-Sale Alert: Muse, Mariah Carey, Black Eyed...
Latest Comments
The Touching Tale Of Labor And Scott Brown - Blocking nominations is a time honored tradition that both parties partake in, most recently by Barry...

By Fake Name on 02-06-2010 in Talking Politics

MP3 of the Week: Vikesh Kapoor, "Newspress Scare" - stream the 7" here: vikeshkapoor.bandcamp.com/.../newspress-scare-7-2 tickets to the show here:...

By hootenanny on 02-05-2010 in On The Download

Dear Rush Limbaugh: Please Drop Dead. Love, Twitter - Shows the kind of exemplary trash that festers under the banner of the Democrat party. Wishing ANYONE...

By pirogue on 02-05-2010 in Phlog

The Touching Tale Of Labor And Scott Brown - Want a real conversation about the Massachusetts gubernatorial race? Watch Basic Black live TONIGHT ...

By saltzmas on 02-04-2010 in Talking Politics

Thugs and goons: Howie Carr explains--updated! - Oh, he got it from the comments! Nice job, Howie. So, according to Mr. Carr, it is the New York Times...

By Farnkoff on 02-04-2010 in Dont Quote Me

Latest Comments from On The Download
Most Viewed
Julian Casablancas on what's wrong with his solo record. Plus: the 76th bullshit Britney story of 2009
HOMEWORK: Assignment #4: Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah the Hills
MP3: Casey Dienel goes Gaga on White Hinterland's new Kairos
MP3 of the Week: Conservative Man, "The Heist"
Together at last: Amanda Palmer and Kay Hanley duet at Lizard Lounge [video]
Photos and Video: Julian Casablancas at the Paradise Rock Club, and live on WFNX
Ticket On-Sale Alert: The Thermals, Trey Anastasio, Spoon, Jay-Z, Xiu Xiu, and more
Most Viewed from On The Download
Search Blogs
 
Links
Bradley’s Almanac - Lower Allston blogging and bootlegging since 2001
Band in Boston -
Basstown -
Wayne&Wax -
Aurgasm -
Onward Charles -
Compound 440r -
Anti-Gravity Bunny -
Clicky Clicky -
Soul Clap -
Lemmingtrail -
WMBR -
WFNX -
Beginning To See the Light -
Jump the Turnstyle -
Heads Up Boston -
Loaded Gun -
Enough Cowbell -
Vanyaland -
On The Download Archives
Sunday, February 07, 2010  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
thePhoenix.com
Phoenix Media/Communications Group
Copyright © 2010 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group