WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: THE HEARTLESS BASTARDS

To answer the eternal question "What's on my non-iPod digital music player?": The Heartless Bastards. Yes, they sound like a punk band, but like Death Cab for Cutie they sound nothing like what their name would imply. This Cincinnati, Ohio blues/rock group's second album, All This Time, starts off with a simple two-chord piano riff and builds to a chorus with rumbling drums and growling guitars, punctuated by singer Erika Wennerstrom's intriguing voice (I hear a little Patti Smith and Beth Orton in there). Their sound is simple, straightforward, uncomplicated, and unpretentious.

The entire album is streaming on their website, and their record label's site has two free mp3s to DL (see below). Fellow Cincinnatians WOXY.com website has a great "Lounge Act" in-studio live performance that will give you a taste of their sound.

But about that name . . .

Band: The Heartless Bastards [official][MySpace]
Members: Erika Wennerstrom (singer/songwriter/guitarist), Kevin Vaughn (drums), Mike Lamping (bass)
Album: All This Time [Amazon][emusic]
Label: Fat Possum
Best Tracks: Into the Open, All This Time, Searching for the Ghost, Came A Long Way.