ALBUM PROFILES BY JOSEPH REGAL



PJ Bond - "22 April: Vienna, Austria"


PJ Bond knows you. Haven’t heard his latest EP, released by independent music company Black Numbers? Doesn’t matter. Never heard his music? Matters even less. With PJ’s most recent release, 22 April: Vienna, Austria any given line in any given song was written for you. Done with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a sweet, evocative voice, it instigates our personal demons, haunting us with despair and desperation. It invokes our own self destruction, selfishness and bad decisions and the things they took away from us. PJ has been there, and he knows you have too.

The EP starts with two stripped down versions of songs originally from his brilliant You Didn’t Know I Was Alphabetical album. “Grow Your Smile Wide” is an uplifting sentiment on an otherwise darker collection of songs, skillfully questioning our own necessities while suggesting a simpler life. It is followed by “You Know the Drill”, a handbook for the dilemma of a one night stand.

22 April: Vienna, Austria really starts to get real with the three previously unreleased tracks in the middle. “Hometown Hero” tells of insecurity and questioning your own self-worth in the eyes of others. With “Plant a Seed”, PJ pours himself out to you, thinking out loud about being broken down and just what the hell to do to fix it. It cries with anxiety and desperation, and it’s impossible not to question yourself while he sings “lately I’ve been feeling like I’m falling apart/got holes in my elbows, knees and part of my heart”. This is followed by what may be the best track on the EP, “Untitled (Robot Golf)”. You feel hope, then you feel hope slipping away. It is a haunting journey of love and love leaving. When PJ asks “Are you lonely, love”, the sincerity of the question will rattle you; when he proclaims “I’m so lonely, love”, whatever heart you still had will be completely broken.

He throws in one more acoustic remake from Alphabetical, “Stop Being Bad”, an upbeat ode to being in a relationship with someone who doesn’t quite know when to grow up. Closing out the EP is a bonus track, an unforgettable cover of NOFX’s “Lori Meyers”, an interpretation of which Fat Mike himself would say goddamn. A mere seven songs long, you are taken on an emotional ride that leaves you with more questions than answers. You will probably be sad, but you will take great comfort in the fact that you are not alone. PJ is your friend. He knows you.

You can purchase this EP here: http://blacknumbers.bandcamp.com/album/22-april-vienna-austria

PJ Bond will be playing at the Court Tavern in New Brunswick on May 13th with Communication Redlight, The Wait, Kiss The Bottle and Control.

- Joseph Regal







PJ Bond was born on his older brother’s second birthday, thus the catalyst for his now and again inconvenient timing. However, the unfortunate position as middle brother and a “leaf in the wind” mentality have given PJ the fortunate ability to evolve, always with a consistent, solid–as–nickel core.

A steady diet of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Blind Melon as a young teen proved to be a steadfast base in the pavement that would lead PJ to the punk/indie basement scene of New Brunswick, New Jersey.

As a founding member of Outsmarting Simon, PJ established the band early on, and after several years of indefatigable touring, they were signed to Triple Crown Records, just two months before college convocation. Sure, a common story, but all this happened well before the age of MySpace. PJ and his mates cut their teeth the old fashioned way: D–I–Y.

When the other three members of the band found themselves being called back to the halls of academia, PJ soldiered on in the unpredictable music world. He quickly found himself playing various instruments for a slew of bands including Marigold, The Color Fred (Equal Vision Records), and Charlotte Sometimes(Geffen/Interscope Records). While acting as a hired gun, PJ felt a void in his heart with the absence of his own band. He missed the long lost days of no bullshit music–making, touring, and camaraderie. There was only one way to go––to amass a new facade in the form of an ambitious catalogue of ardent and honest singer/songwriter jams. It would seem some time alone has done him well. This is the most personal and from–the–heart music PJ has manufactured to date. These are the documents to many a late night, long roads, failed relationships and devoted friends.

On a break between tours in December of 2007, PJ secluded himself in his younger brother’s house and made a record. Soon after he was back on the road, but in March 2008 PJ self released “fall, tonight” on his label, Maroon Set Recordings. Over the course of the next few months, more songs were written, and in December 2008, PJ felt the annual clock ticking inside of himself, like a salmon swimming up–river each year to spawn. He recorded 31 demos in just one night. Afterward, he ran down the street to a New Brunswick basement show, something he’s found himself doing time and time again, a true constant in his life.

The release of his next full length record is slated for the coming months, but if PJ’s clock continues to tick in the full circle fashion it has grown accustomed to, one could expect that it’ll definitely be pumping through headphones by November.