Heartbreak Trail's Disc-overy of the Week: PJ Bond "You Didn't Know I Was Alphabetical"

With a resume that includes stints in bands with names like Outsmarting Simon, Communipaw, and The Color Fred, it’s hardly surprising that this New Jersey native’s songs are thoroughly sharp and clever. However, Bond’s sound is firmly rooted in the ragged mid-‘90s alt-country of Whiskeytown and early My Morning Jacket.
Those relatively limited musical parameters are hardly a detriment, though, since the emphasis is squarely on Bond’s pen. His eloquence and clarity approaches Paul Westerberg/Elliott Smith standards in terms of making the mundane sound essential, and vice versa. His explorations of guilt and jealousy in songs such as “Mama, I’m A Smoker,” and “Fucking! Viv” hit hard, while “Stop Being Bad” and “Skin And Bones” are pure expressions of love for partners who seem beyond help.
That’s not to say that Bond’s messages are devoid of hope. In fact, the opposite is true. The nomadic lifestyle he’s recently adopted seems to have only heightened his awareness of human behavior. While this latest chronicle is a minor masterpiece in that sense, it’s tempting to think what Bond could do if he finds the wide audience he deserves. (Black Numbers, www.theblacknumbers.com)
This review is also posted at Heartbreak Trail