CD reviews

A.A. Bondy

When the Devil’s Loose
(Fat Possum)
*8.3*

Goes well with: Rocky Votolato, Lucero, Ryan Adams

Arthur Auguste Bondy is like a modern-day Robert Johnson. The analogy’s a bit of an stretch, but it’s a useful one when you consider that, like Johnson, Bondy’s music—a haunting mix of folk, alt-country and blues—will likely be underappreciated as long as he’s alive. It’s doubly useful when you think that both singers have something of an obsession with Beelzebub.

The Dark Prince shows up all over Bondy’s music, in both literal references and tone. But where his debut seemed more focused on beating back the demons around the bed, Bondy’s sophomore effort is the sound of a man accepting that they’re there for good. “I take out my heart and fire it from a cannon / With such a sound over the hills and every trouble is abandoned,” he sings on “The Mercy Wheel,” one of several songs that’s content in its resignation. The fact that the album was recorded primarily in Water Valley, Miss. (about an hour’s drive from the mythic Crossroads where Johnson supposedly sold his soul), only adds to its weight, as if Bondy was channeling some boy in a bloodied gray uniform who’s finally leaving the battlefield.

There are a few misses on the record (“To the Morning” and “On the Moon” are downright boring), but most of the songs add up to create an accessible album for anyone patient enough to listen attentively. After all, any real sinner not only has sympathy for the devil but also knows he makes one hell of a drinking buddy.

Noisettes

Wild Young Hearts
(Universal)
*6.0*

Goes well with: Estelle, Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga

It’s hard to believe Noisettes were recently considered one of London’s most rambunctious indie-rock bands. Fronted by the Amazonian Shingai Shoniwa and backed by guitarist Dan Smith and drummer Jamie Morrison, the band came on like the reincarnation of Bow Wow Wow. They seemingly had it all: pop sensibilities, punk swagger and an infectious devil-may-care attitude.

For their second album, Wild Young Hearts, the band has cleaned up its act, and it shows. Out with the grit, in with the hooks. “Don’t Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go)” is as catchy as Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” or Estelle’s break-out hit, last summer’s “American Boy.” Their second single, “Wild Young Hearts,” is a sentimental trip back to the early days of soul—a road much traveled by the likes of Amy Winehouse. Noisettes’ most recent single, “Never Forget You,” goes back to their rock ’n’ roll roots but completely bypasses the post-punk blues in favor of a retro-’60s sound that permeates the album.

And that’s too bad. Although many of the songs are catchy and memorable, Noisettes’ sophomore effort feels so overproduced and eager to please that you can hear Shoniwa enunciating every syllable. It’s neither noisy nor wild, with not nearly enough heart.

Frank Turner

Poetry of the Deed
(Epitaph)
*6.6*

Goes well with: Guinness, The Pogues, Billy Bragg

On Frank Turner’s debut for Epitaph, the folk singer uses his full band in the studio for the first time. It’s a more rocking affair than his previous full-length, Love, Ire and Song, but this strategy works both for and against him. Part of what made that album so appealing was its pub-style folk rock delivered with some serious testicles. Poetry of the Deed is once again full of anthems, but turning up the guitars seems to have drained certain tunes of their primal energy.

Maybe it’s due to the more polished and traditional arrangements. Often sounding like watered-down, Irish-tinged versions of Hold Steady tracks, the songs have similar themes (death, drinking, disappointment), but none of them has the bite of The Hold Steady’s “The Swish” or “Banging Camp.” It appears as if Turner has had an easier time letting go of his hardcore roots than HS mastermind Craig Finn has.

The tail end of Poetry holds the most promise for Turner’s future work. The band stretches out with the pop experimentalism of “Richard Divine,” and the piano anthem “Our Lady of the Campfire” is easily the best song on the album. Both veer into Beatles / Kinks territory, as opposed to the Pogues worship relied upon for the rest of the album. So, if St. Patty’s day is your favorite holiday of the year, you’ll probably dig this entire album. But if it’s just another Wednesday to get your drunk on, you’ll probably enjoy about half of it.

Frank Turner plays Wednesday, Sept. 16, at House of Blues.

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