Blister Soul

Note: I've moved my blog to my own web site - the new address is:
www.nonaverage.net/insomanywords/
Comments can only be left at the new location.

----------------------------------------------------

Back at the beginning of 2008, I started listening to a musician who's been around since the early 1990s. Over the years I've seen reviews and articles about Bill Mallonee and his band the Vigilantes of Love but I had never heard any of his music until a few months ago. Following a link from a blog, I listened to a couple of VoL songs and was immediately drawn to Bill's style, both band-wise and songwriting. Bill's music has been categorized as everything from roots-folk-Americana to Brit-pop, and while the strong influence of artists like Bob Dylan and Neil Young is evident, VoL sometimes sounds like Tom Petty, R.E.M, the Gin Blossoms or even an alt-country band. Put all of that together and you get a hint of Bill's music, which I am enjoying as I try to catch up on 15 or more VoL albums as well as Bill's 10+ solo recordings.

As a songwriter, Bill is both prolific and quite interesting - deep, thoughtful, even spiritual, his songs reflect brokenness and struggles that relate in a real-life way, yet are not so depressing that the listener loses hope. In fact, I think many of his songs inspire hope because of their realism and sensitivity. I'm very impressed with his ability to be revealing and honest, and to put the honesty of his thoughts and feeling into his songs. I find music like this refreshing - because it's not the sugar-coated, false love, hyped sexuality that many "hit" records are made of. Bill is a song-crafter with years of good work behind him. And yet his story is not what many would call a success story. The Vigilantes of Love broke up in the early 2000s, mainly because they couldn't afford to stay together. They had been dropped by their record company, which, in spite of several very good albums, hadn't been able to "sell" them well enough. For a while the band did very well on AAA (Adult Album Alternative) radio, but exposure through AAA does not always translate into high sales. So Bill found himself without a label and without a band, and began a solo career that hasn't even always paid the bills. In an interview from October 2007 Bill talked about the 2006 Christmas season when he had to sell a guitar to pay the rent and couldn't get part-time Christmas work from a temp agency because the only experience he had for the past 10 years was "... I was a songwriter, I managed a band and made records". And I find it interestingly sad that a talented songwriter like Bill, someone who is obviously successful at writing good songs and with a catalog of good music to be enjoyed, is getting such a seemingly poor response to his work. It certainly deserves a lot more.

So I've been searching eBay and Amazon.Com for Bill's older albums, and many of them are also available for purchase and download at volsounds.com - if you've never heard Bill's music, this is a good way to get to know him and his songs for low cost. I fully recommend his music - I believe that you will enjoy it. I am, and this is what I've collected so far:

Blister Soul (1995)
V.O.L (1996 - compilation)
To The Roof Of The Sky (1998)
Audible Sigh (2000)
Summershine (2001)
Perfumed Letter (2003)

Take a listen - to pique your interest here are a couple of MP3s from the Vigilantes of Love albums Blister Soul and Summershine - just click to listen:

You Know That (Is Nothing New) from Summershine
Offer from Blister Soul

A sweep of a feather....