A.A. BONDY
AMERICAN HEARTS

The few, who remember AA Bondy from his days with the now defunct punk band Verbena, will be in for a surprise when they spin American Hearts (Superphonic Records). Lush acoustic guitars and spine tingling harmonicas lay the foundation for Bondy’s soulful twang. Athough never really establishing himself as anything different from the new collection of troubled troubadours like Ryan Adams, Jesse Malin, or M.Ward, Bondy does create an album that is beautiful in tone and harmony, while desolate and heartbreaking in subject matter. Bondy seems to have gone through a spiritual cleansing while holed up in a barn recording this album. On the track “I Killed Myself When I was Young,” he confesses “ killed myself when I was young/ with my hand on the poison gun.” In the haunting opening track “How Will You Meet Your End,” Bondy sings, “I killed my daddy and took his .45/ he was no good/ he had to die,” with such conviction that you almost believe him. The title track “American Hearts,” would not sound out of place on Neil Young’s masterpiece Harvest, while “World Without End” would fit in seamlessly on Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind. It’s hard to listen to Bondy and not play the “Who Does He Sound Like On This Song Game,” but what should not be lost is the honesty and sincerity in which these songs are conveyed. It’s only a matter of time before people are being compared to Bondy himself. - Tom Duffy