Saturday night: Heartless Bastards and AA Bondy
Felicia Graham
Heartless Bastards
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Despite sporting a more straightforward take on rock than is typically associated with Mississippi shack-blues label Fat Possum, Cincinnati’s Heartless Bastards were championed by The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney and soon inked a deal. The Bastards’ 2005 debut, Stairs And Elevators, attracted lots of fans and received glowing reviews, most of which focused on singer-guitarist Erika Wennerstrom and her powerful vocals. The group went off on a slight and pleasing tangent with 2006’s All This Time, incorporating slivers of pop, folk, and even sparse, lazy orchestral arrangements. The band has recently been holed up with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon), working on its next record, The Mountain, due out in January. AA Bondy fronted Alabama punk-rock trio Verbena in the late '90s but re-emerged solo last year with his folk-blues debut, American Hearts. The record finds Bondy necessarily bruised and battered, but still strangely optimistic. Heartless Bastards shows off a similar spirit, which should come through at tonight's show at the High Noon. Songs like "Gray" are tough at heart, but Wennerstrom's singing, especially on the chorus, gives the song a rush of encouragement:
