Saturday, November 8th, The Heartless Bastards played to a packed room at the Independent in San Francisco, CA. The past year has seen a handful of changes for the band. First, Erika Wennerstrom replaced the supporting members of her band. Then they relocated from Cincinnati, OH, to Austin, TX. In their new town, they began working on a new album with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Trail of the Dead).
The new band consists of members of two of Cincinnati’s most consistent and popular local bands. Drummer Dave Colvin comes from Shesus, a now defunct band for which Wennerstrom once played bass. Jesse Ebaugh, who was a member of Pearlene, is now the bass player for The Heartless Bastards. These new members are familiar to Wennerstrom; both Colvin and Ebaugh played on the 5-song demo that got the band signed to Fat Possum Records.
The latest incarnation of The Heartless Bastards is a cohesive and powerful trio. The sound is a mixture of blues rock and riot grrrl. They take their influences from Sleater-Kinney, Janis Joplin, and The Black Keys.
From the opening song through the 4-song encore, the band played songs from both of their albums and a few new songs from their upcoming 2009 release, The Mountain. There was never a lull in the driving energy, with some of the strongest audience responses from “Done Got Old,” “Into The Open,” which showed Wennerstrom volley from keyboard to guitar, and “Blue Day.”
The final song of the set, “The Will Song,” demonstrated the boundless skills of the band. They give attention to the musical subtleties while playing with a collective intensity. Dave Colvin’s bombastic flailing on the drums hints at a jazz style buried beneath the hard, punk pounding. There is a perfect balance of melodic movement and solid, distorted downbeats in Jesse Ebaugh’s basslines. But this band still belongs to Erika Wennerstrom. The definition and command in her candid, yet brusque, voice is unmatched.
After being beckoned back on stage, Wennerstrom and Ebaugh picked up acoustic guitars for a mellifluous tune. The 4 songs of this encore, with the highlight being “New Resolution,” were the final affirmation of this band’s strength and staying power. The Heartless Bastards will, no doubt, continue to astound audiences for some time.
The opening band for the evening was The Broken West. It was obvious the members of this 5-piece band were all accomplished on their instruments, but their energy level did not match their musical proficiency. For the majority of the set, the band’s stage presence was bland. This was a band searching for the hit they don’t yet have. The final two songs of the set, “Auctioneer” and “On The Bubble,” did show the band break out of their shell with a renewed energy. Not only did the audience prefer those songs, it seemed the band enjoyed playing them. This rejuvenation, however, was not enough to save their set.
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