A.A. Bondy-When the Devil's Loose

One man with a guitar and a harmonica singing folk songs about his country and telling stories about his life is not exactly a new idea. However, A.A. Bondy executes this classic style with a modern variation that harkens back to all those who came before him while simultaneously creating political and personal odes to his own time.

Bondy’s newest album, When the Devil’s Loose, is a slow, wallowing, set of songs by a folk singer seemingly born at least 40 years too late. The combination of softly sung, reflective lyrics and simple, but technically accurate guitar work makes Bondy sound like he’s out of money, out of drugs, and wondering what he’s supposed to do next. The end result is the sound of a lost soul wandering across America looking for an alternative to his post-drug-haze melancholy.

Throughout the album Bondy brings listeners wandering along with him on his sad journey. with lyrics made up mostly of nature references, listening to the album in its entirety feels like the long drive back home through the emptiness of middle America after you’ve spent all of your money on the wildest road trip of your life. This is evident in one of the album’s strongest tracks “Wheels of Mercy”, in which Bondy sings, “Into the mercy wheel she is spinning in the twilight/tell me how do you feel after a hard blow in a bar fight/ and it’s a Mississippi night with the heavens wheeling by/ and I don’t hold on so tight.”

Musically Bondy is often accompanied by light and simple drums and occasionally a lead guitarist. While the music is always technically sound it is rarely complex or elaborate. However, in this case the simplicity goes a long way in developing the sound and feel of the album. While the instruments are always pleasant and often catchy they never detract from the true focus, which, is the lyrics.

Another strong point on the album is the final song, “The Coal Hits the Fire.” The song starts with the off-beat sound of dripping water and a low, lightly scratching feedback noise, creating a sad and empty sort of ambiance. The acoustic guitar fades in slowly with a few dawdling single notes. The vocals come in shortly after with Bondy sounding like an old and beaten cowboy singing his final dirge before he hops on the last train heading back east. “ ‘Memory, oh memory, where is it I must go?’/ ‘Away from here, but do not weep/such wonders you will know’/and it’s down to the station where the train has pulled in/see the cars of silver and gold/and the coal hits the fire and wheels start to spin/oh, you’re going around the sun, don’t you know.” After that final verse the guitar sluggishly chugs along and a quiet whistling fades in. One can easily picture a lonely cowboy taking his last look at the wide-open plain before reluctantly stepping on a train never to return.

While this album is not as much a ballad for America as his previous album, American Hearts, it still has an undeniable and well-composed American feel. It is full of sentimental glorification, not for war, family, or patriotism, but for the small things that generally go unnoticed. Bondy beautifully demonstrates his appreciation for things like the small rivers, the open spaces, the road-side flowers, and the people that never get recognition for their dedication to their chosen pursuits, no matter how unsuccessful they may have been.

It’s this American spirit that drives the album both lyrically and musically. Although Bondy is from Alabama the music does not have a specifically southern sound, but rather a sound that hallows the tradition and style of America’s most popular folk artists and has largely gone missing in today’s music. Although Bondy will probably never be an American hero, he sure sounds like one.