Heartless Bastards are neither
Great Scotts, Boston, February 3, 2009
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz
Heartless Bastards were far from home on CD release day. But that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of lead singer and chief Bastard Erika Wennerstrom. In fact, just the opposite as she told the crowd of a few hundred several times how "excited" the Austin-by-way-of Cincinnati band was about their new CD and being able to play out.
The recently formed quartet - Wennerstrom is actually the only original band member who played on the CD - acquitted themselves quite well in a solid 90-minute set.
Heartless Bastards play dense, bluesy rock with nods to Led Zeppelin. Wennerstrom is outstanding as a front person. She sings exceedingly well, breathing a tremendous amount of life into the songs with her powerful vocals. And lots of credit is due to the soundman for keeping her voice well above the mix of the instruments. For almost the entire set, the words could actually easily be heard, a seeming rarity in club land.
Wennerstrom didn't talk a lot, but she really didn't need to since the songs were meaty enough to stand on their own.
The Bastards played a number of songs from their new CD, "The Mountain" with the title track and Out to Sea standing out. They also mixed it up just enough with tempo changes, sometimes starting songs softly before the band kicked in to keep it interesting. Wennerstrom, for example, played the first song in the encore solo acoustic.
The group may not have been together very long, but that did not matter. While Wennerstrom took a few guitar leads, Mark Nathan also was handy on the axe with Jesse Ebaugh on bass and Dave Colvin on drums. There's a good chemistry to this group (they all knew Wennerstrom back in Ohio, and Colvin played briefly with the band several years back). Wennerstrom said after the show that she intended to also record with this outfit. That's a good thing. About the only negative - and this, of course, is a compliment - was that the group sometimes cut the songs short, ending them before they had been truly fleshed out. Heartless Bastards may be neither, but what they are is a band capable of serving up music that works.
Hoots and Hellmouth from Philadelphia opened with a good set of revved up bluegrass. The Avetts could be considered a jumping off point for Hoots and company, although they are not as raucous as the Avetts. (Not did they necessarily see a connection with the Avetts either)
With one release under their belt and another coming in May, this could be a band in development stage. Sean Hoots is an effective lead singer, not given to overdoing it at times like the Avetts and his backing mates contribute well. Mandolinist Rob Berliner added a lot to the presentation.
While very good, not every song was necessarily a big time keeper, but there's enough material there to keep it interesting.
