In a triumphant return to Madison, the Heartless Bastards show at the High Noon Saloon rested on fusing opposing forces – garage rock with country, gritty blues with a pared-down Midwestern sensibility – unique characteristics which have made them a band to watch since their debut.
The Bastards’ crowd at the packed venue embodied these contradictions, drawing concertgoers from both the middle-aged rocker set as well as the bearded aspiring hipsters for a captivating show that was all rock. The band emulates this dichotomy, with a vibe of horn-rimmed meets Tex-Mex crossed with music that is as perfectly suited for swilling a beer in a favorite bar with friends as for driving cross-country, alone.
And captivate they did: Singer Erika Wennerstrom’s unique and slurring-but-melodic voice simultaneously commanded attention and set the crowd swaying, lending a mood that was equal parts Neil Young and Janis Joplin. Her voice is seasoned and rugged, qualities that made me want to buy whatever she was selling.
The band drew heavily on both favorites from their 2009 release, The Mountain, as well as songs from Arrow, the new album set for a Valentine’s Day release. The album marks the band’s first release with the Brooklyn-based indie label Partisan Records and was produced by Spoon’s Jim Eno.
The Madison show marked one of the last before the new album’s release, in the midst of the band’s ambitious national tour.
After openers from Madison’s Little Legend and San Antonio’s La Hacienda, the band’s quiet presence offstage did nothing to signal the eruption of sound from the opening of their set.
Wennerstrom’s wailing vocals on songs like “Witchy Poo” and “Hold Your Head High” drew the crowd in before the foot-stomping title track “The Mountain.” While her range is somewhat limited, the rumbling and rock-solid vocals provide ample support for the strong bass lines and building drums present on many of their songs.
Songs off Arrow, the band’s fourth studio release, capture a tested and well-worn quality reflective of the band’s move to Texas and boast intimate lyrics that were well-suited to the homey feel of the venue.
The band also played older hits, including “Done Got Old” off the 2005 release Stairs and Elevators and the soaring “All This Time” off the 2006 album of the same name.
These tracks ooze a brand of authentic sincerity rarely seen in an indie landscape which can be cold and unengaging. This quality has forced a popular comparison with the Black Keys, which feels like a sloppily-drawn parallel for a sound that is hard to classify and impossible to contain.
Songs off Arrow, particularly “Low Low Low”, seem born out of a life of standing up alone against the storm, evident in Wennerstrom crooning the diary page realization, “I’m getting used to being alone / I’m getting used to out on my own.”
While band members didn’t take a lot of time to pause and address the crowd, they didn’t have to – the show felt like taking in a tightly packed set from a band that would likely feel as comfortable in a garage show in their native Cincinnati as they would headlining at Lollapalooza.
Although bassist Jesse Ebaugh told the crowd that Madisonians are a hard bunch to play a quiet song to, the performance of the song “Marathon” off the new album contained elements approaching a country rock ballad that seemed to satisfy and soothe the crowd. Even with the band’s surprising harmonies expanding out to fill the Saloon’s rafters, the Texas grit was not lost.
The band also dedicated the song “Nothing Seems the Same” to the late Whitney Houston, with lyrics “I don’t want to fall into / Into the wicked sun” backed by churning drums to foster a particularly resonant feel.
While the Bastards’ set seemed to suggest that the walk through life is wrought with inevitable pain, lost loves and inescapable hardship, their two-hours-plus jam session made it clear that the journey is best taken accompanied by friends and wearing well-worn cowboy boots.
