A.A. Bondy : When The Devil’s Loose

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/aabondywhenthedevilsloose.jpg" alt=" " />One of the best new alt-country voices just gets better on his sophomore release. ...
7.9 Fat Possum
2009 

A.A. Bondy : When The Devil's Loose

The over-saturated singer/songwriter alt-country/folk market of the past few years has had an upside, as it’s shed light on some deserved artists, who’ve then moved steadily up and up.  A.A. Bondy is one of those artists.  Previously of Alabama’s Verbena, Bondy’s solo debut American Hearts caught a few well-placed ears in 2007 (unfortunately, QRO was not one of them – we’re still kicking ourselves…), and that mushroomed when it was re-released last year on Fat Possum (The Black Keys, Hayden).  A stint opening for the established alt-country Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band (QRO live review), becoming an honorary Felice Brother (QRO spotlight on) by joining them on stage for a tour, even an appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (QRO Indie on Late Night TV) – it all built up Bondy nicely.  So how does he fare in his follow-up to all that attention, When The Devil’s Loose?  By growing fuller, just as he should.

The major addition to The Devil is Bondy recording with a whole band, and when he takes full advantage of that, the results are impressive, nowhere more so than with the title track, as “When The Devil’s Loose” is some of the best alt-country/folk twang out there, just wry enough, just emotional enough, and truly memorable.  Definitely an accomplished musician, Bondy is able to both lift alt-folk with just the power of his voice on “Mightiest of Guns”, but also use the alt-country approach to great effect on “Oh The Vampyre”, when singing about, yes, vampires (who does he think he is, Eric Elbogen – QRO interview – as Say Hi To Your Mom – QRO spotlight on – ?).  He can also vary up the alt-country/folk ways, like the brighter loss of “I See the Pines Are Dancing”, or the somber, empty room “False River”.

However, not ever track on The Devil is as impressive, because sometimes Bondy slips into alt-country/twang wrote, like with the slightly boring “A Slow Parade” and “To the Morning” (neither helped by being bookenders to the titular standout), or the too straight “The Mercy Wheel”.  Yes, A.A. Bondy could use even more growth as he fills out his sound, but he’s well on his way to being one of the great alt-country voices around today.

MP3 Stream: "When The Devil’s Loose"

{audio}/mp3/files/AA Bondy – When The Devils Loose.mp3{/audio}

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