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 and Jesus references, most notably with lyrics such as "I don't wanna talk about Jesus, I just wanna see his face," from "Rapture (Sweet Rapture)."

His journey started and ended in a barn in Palenville, NY, where Bondy recorded and mixed the album in its entirety within the space of a month. The product is a worried, tongue in cheek record combining the solidarity of folk rock with the loneliness of the delta blues. Well played and thoughtfully produced, the songs are short and to the point, simple yet filled with traditional home spun lyrics and sung with the distinct grain of Bondy's raspy voice. It listens like a sentimental tribute to a bygone era where your best friend was your next-door neighbor and all questions could be answered by remembering that you were an American. These musings are evident in the title song's acoustic pleading, "Don't tread on me, for I am your brother, I was born with an American heart."

An album steeped in overwhelming emotion ends on a somber note with "Of the Sea," a tale of a couple drowning in a shipwreck. Meanwhile "Vice Rag" is a caustic nod to the joys of drug and alcohol abuse ("Sweet, sweet cocaine, won’t you be all mine") as sung from the perspective of an addict asking Jesus to take his sinning hand, followed by "Killed Myself When I was Young." Not exactly music for the dinner table, but ultimately the spirit of this record is one of hope that peaceful reconciliations, both politically and personally, are possible even in the darkest hours of despair.

Christine Wright
November 12, 2007