THE SIGNAL

The next edition of The Signal is almost finished and should be online in the next few days. This time out we have an interview with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse about the recent album Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain.

Meantime I went to see the amazing Von Bondies on the first night of the European tour. It’s been 3 years since the band’s last tour dates in Europe and four years since the last album Pawn Shoppe Heart. That album remains my favourite of this decade – I must have played it more than any other record over the past 4 years. Plus the last time I saw the VBs play was at the London Astoria in 2005, so to say this show was highly anticipated would be something of a smidgen of a hint of a whiff of an understatement!

There are been a few changes in Camp Von Bondies since 2005 – Marcie and Carrie have now left to do other things (Carrie’s last show was that Astoria gig), and the band have expanded to a five piece. They’ve also left their label and gone independent again, which mean the T-Shirts now pay for the tourbus petrol!

The gig was sensational – the band gave their all at full pelt, basically playing a greatest hits set with the very best selections from the previous albums and a few new tracks. Two of these – Pale Bride and I Don’t Wanna – can be found on the brand new EP We Are Kamikazes Aiming Straight For Your Heart. Pale Bride is a fizzing pop bomb with a holy hand grenade of a chorus at its centre, and sits perfectly with other VB classics such as Lack Of Communication and Tell Me What You See. It felt a bit weird hearing Not That Social without Carrie, but after opening with the old favourite It Came From Japan, the band had fans and newbies right in the palm of their hands until they finished up with a blasting double bill of Rock n’ Roll Nurse and Broken Man.

But the highlight of the night for me was meeting the great gentleman rocker of Detroit, Jason Von Bondie himself!! Jason was at the merchie stall and sold us a copy of the new EP so I genuinely feel I have added a little something to the Von Bondies’ efforts to stay on the road. Plus after the show he met up with us outside the venue, and was in a seriously good mood! Jason is a supercool guy – it’s such a relief when your heroes turn out to be truly cool!

Check out the new EP now – only available from the Von Bondies myspace, and hear the lead track on the next Signal!