Trax
By Bliss 09/03/2009
A.A. BONDY, When the Devil’s Loose (Fat Possum):
(4 stars out of 5)
Bondy’s second solo disc’s like that quiet guy in English class who’s more interesting than jocks grabbing attention for themselves because he knows who he is, and what he isn’t. Songs here mine similar value from humility. Over gently fingerpicked guitar, the honorary Felice Brother expresses hope, humor and homegrown theology (“Looking at the sky there is no pain/ See the stars all falling down like burning rain/ They were fired by the mightiest of guns”). Seductive music for rainy days and late nights, and traveling to far-off places in your mind. At F Yeah Festy in LA Historic State Park Saturday. myspace.com/aabondy.
SARAH STANLEY, Tuesday Girl (RMC):
(3 stars out of 5)
LA singer-songwriter Stanley transformed a whopping dose of romantic woe into grist for her pen, resulting in 11 smartly turned pop tunes, all but two co-written with producer/guitarist Rich McCulley. Happily, it’s not a recipe for slit-your-wrist musical downers. Elegant melodic shapes and the underlying grit of Stanley’s salty-sweet vocals boost the poignance and power of ballads like “Wish” and the title track. CD release party at Cinema Bar in Culver City Saturday. sarahstanley.com.
DUKE ROBILLARD’S JUMPIN’ BLUES REVUE, Stomp! The Blues Tonight (Stony Plain):
(3 stars out of 5)
Roomful of Blues veteran Robillard swings with abandon on this party-time platter of old-school jump blues and R&B. The guitarist serves up beefy solos with period style and dips into the tunebags of Lowell Fulson, Wynonie Harris, Roy Milton and Johnny Watson, among others. Sunny Crownover’s purring vocals add drama to six tracks, spurring the chief complaint: that she doesn’t sing on the other 10. At Arcadia Blues Club Saturday. stonyplainrecords.com.
KATE WOLF, Lines on the Paper (Collector’s Choice):
(3 stars out of 5)
The reissue of this California singer-songwriter’s oeuvre offers fresh opportunity to appreciate her warmth, simplicity and craft. Wolf, who succumbed to leukemia in 1986, eschewed catchy pop hooks; the contemplative songs on “Lines on the Paper,” “Back Roads,” “Safe at Anchor,” “The Wind Blows Wild” and “Give Yourself to Love” value the weight of words as the era’s hippie-folk-country genre often did. Sometimes too much. Nonetheless, Wolf’s devotion to nature and narrative is impressive, and her clear, sincere soprano’s backed by Cali acoustic luminaries, including Nina Gerber and Todd Phillips. katewolf.com.
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