DOWNLOAD: A.A. Bondy - I Can See the Pines Are Dancing (MP3)

In the mid- to late 1990s, Birmingham was a hot spot for music, thanks to the band Verbena - a three-piece band featuring Scott Bondy, Anne Marie Griffin and Les Nuby. There were other members throughout the band's existence, but those three took Verbena to the edge of - dare I say it - stardom. Featured on magazine covers as the savior of rock 'n' roll and the next Nirvana, Verbena released one EP and four full-length albums, including the mind-blowing "Souls for Sale."

The best show I ever saw was not much of a show, thanks to the PA blowing up mid-set. Still, the four or five songs the band played at Birmingham's City Stages that night rocked and sort of changed my life.

Not long after the magazine covers and hype, the band drifted apart, however. Bondy is back - now going by AA Bondy - with the raucous rock behind him; redeemed (if you will), but with the storytelling still in his soul. [Gadsden Times]

The connection between AA Bondy and his old Verbena bandmate Les, now in Vulture Whale, has was recently discussed here. Vulture Whale will actually be back in NYC to play a CMJ show at Trash Bar on October 24th.

AA Bondy's European tour kicks off October 12th and runs through the month. In November, he'll return to the US for shows, many of which are in the South, that lead up to a December 9th headlining gig at Bowery Ballroom with Willy Mason. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday, October 9th at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

AA Bondy's last NYC show was on September 9th at Mercury Lounge. Clips from that gig and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "AA Bondy played Mercury Lounge, playing Bowery Ballroom (and other dates), Vulture Whale playing CMJ"

DOWNLOAD: A.A. Bondy - I Can See the Pines Are Dancing (MP3)

AA Bondy is on tour and in town Wednesday night (September 9th) for a show at Mercury Lounge with Tim Easton (New West Records), Willy Mason (Astralwerks) and Dave Godowsky (yahtzees). Tickets for that are still on sale.

AA's new record, When The Devil's Loose, came out September 1st on Fat Possum. A new MP3 from that, "I Can See the Pines Are Dancing," is posted above.

You may know that Bondy (a.k.a. Scott Bondy) used to play with the band Verbena, which he started with high school friends Les Nuby (guitar, and later drums) and Duquette Johnston (bass). I recently found out that Les' new band is Vulture Whale, who recently came to NYC for a set of shows at the end of August...

"Live the band is amiable and capable. McDonald, through some unfortunate staging [at Pianos], wound up off to the side in the shadows. There were gestures and faces made; his lines' character and cleverness were intact, unemphasized. Lead guitarist Lester Nuby (late of Verbana, where I think he was the drummer?) has chops, boys and ladies, though the guy manning the boards hid him in the mix for the first couple numbers. (Backing vocals were sort of off all night and overwhelmed the lead.) They don't jam, thankfully, though "That's Cold" got teased out and the climactic "Land It" (from their first self-titled album) is designed to be pounded at.

Band got through all but two songs from the superior second record but folks in the crowd responded more to the earlier material. (They also played "Rearranged," maybe one other?) Vulture Whale was the first of four bands Saturday night (after headlining Maxwell's?), there were a decent amount of people there for that. Room wasn't thick with accents or anything, but if, like the band suggested, many were expat Alabamans, they can only be accused of knowing better." [Heartonastick]

A video of Wes from Vulture Whale performing and talking on Birmingham's WCFT, with all AA Bondy & Tim Easton tour dates, below...

Continue reading "AA Bondy connected to Vulture Whale (via Verbena), on tour (NYC tonight) w/ a new album (MP3)"

"Did Pianos burn down last night?" - moy

"PIANOS WILL BE CLOSED TONIGHT DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL. WE WILL REOPEN TOMORROW: BUSINESS AS USUAL!"

Pianos did not burn down, but supposedly there was a small electrical fire at the club last night/this morning and the sprinklers soaked everything so they need a day to clean up. As their official STATEMENT above says, they will be closed tonight/Friday (8/21), but plan on opening in time for Vulture Whale to hit the stage on Saturday.

"And the words sound so good sung. 'We were drunk while we were married a week and we both had us a farmer's tan, I like rock songs, hey baby baby yeah' ('What Do'). God, that's good stuff." -heartonastick

There is a gaping hole in rock music between mindless dude rock and what gets foolishly called "literate" rock, and that murky in-between can be a pretty freeing ocean to swim through. Which is exactly what Vulture Whale does. This is a band that knows that the real spectacle of rock and roll is found in playing the music with all of its unruly sound and energy. When your songs are this good, and when they clatter along pushing against their tight and brilliant structures at every turn, well then you don't need light shows or pyrotechnics. You also don't need Pynchon references or 50-cent words. [Pop Matters]

Alabama's Vulture Whale will be coming to the NYC-area for two shows this weekend: Friday, August 21st at Maxwell's with Della Valle, Neil Nathan and Elisa Girlando, and Saturday August 22nd at Pianos (their Pianos set time is 8PM).

The above review is from the group's self-titled album which came out in early 2009 on Skybucket Records. It's one of two self-titled albums the band has released.

Two videos, "Teedy" and Sugar," both of which showcase the band's bar-rock chops, are posted below with all tour dates (and tour poster), and the new album cover, but first a note from John Darnielle...

"So it is that when I heard there's a band called Vulture Whale I said to myself "self-fulfilling prophecies be damned, a band called Vulture Whale has gotta kick ass." And indeed my brethren the shit is live. They sound like Silkworm. Then after a while they sound kind of like the 3Ds a little. Mainly though there is a heavy Silkworm injection here. That is 100% OK by me. There should be more bands who sound like Silkworm and less who sound like they think they have something original to contribute to the field of Rocking Dionysiac Abandon. That shit is straight played out, man. Vulture Whale is not played out. They groove like Silkworm and I, for one, will take it."

John has his own tour and NYC shows coming up as well. Vulture Whale stuff below...

Continue reading "Vulture Whale coming this weekend - tour dates & videos"