AA Bondy - new album "American Hearts", MP3, NYC show

DOWNLOAD: AA Bondy – There’s a Reason (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: AA Bondy – Vice Rag (MP3)

Summer’s going to fade soon, the leaves will change and Michigan will be at its absolute most beautiful before we get buried in winter. Bondy’s sparse folk rock will make a nice soundtrack for that transition, like Springsteen‘s Nebraska or Will Oldham‘s Days in the Wake. The other artist that comes to mind here is Steve Earle…. [3Hive]

American Hearts is the name of the album, and though I’m not as obsessed as a few people I know (one who ranks “American Hearts” the 2nd best album of 2007 – he has Radiohead at #1), AA Bondy‘s new album has quickly made its way into my regular listening this week. At the moment I keep going back and forth between that, and Deer Tick‘s War Elephant. AA takes a little precedence though because I’m still trying to decide if I should go see him at Mercury Lounge tonight (12/12) – it helps that Jaymay is opening, not to mention Wakey!Wakey & Jukebox the Ghost both also playing the show.

A couple more key points…

• I haven’t figured out what AA’s opinion of Jesus is yet, but he does mention him a lot
  

  On the spiritual “Rapture,” Bondy sings “I don’t want to talk about Jesus, just want to see his face/ The trees are swinging like hanging men, and I just want to see his face/ And rapture, sweet rapture, won’t you lay your hands on me/ For I am blind.” [Captain Obvious]

  Not that I care, but you might.

• AA Bondy was in the band Verbena, which I didn’t know at first. You probably wouldn’t have known by just listening either…
  

  Listen to American Hearts without any prior knowledge of its creator, and you’d never guess that A.A. Bondy is the former singer of rock band, Verbena. Then known as Scott Bondy, it is said that the A.A. stands for August Arthur. It’s this odd elusiveness that adds to the mystique of his solo debut. After detaching from his grunge-rock roots, Bondy has reinvented his identity, morphing into a Bible belt preacher man with songs drenched in religious imagery….” [Junk Media]

  Not that I care about that either, but it’s kind of interesting.

Live videos below….

Killed Myself When I Was Young

Vice Rag