San Diego's The Paddle Boat will open for AA Bondy Jan. 15 at the Casbah, and it's gonna be good.
The Paddle Boat -- a project of local everywhere-men Jeremy Scott, Jackson Milgaten and David Mead -- will almost certainly compete with Mr. Bondy for best set of the night. They recently released their first LP, the excellent I Wonder If the Water Ever Tires of the Sea?, on Milgaten's own Single Screen Records. Their sound is something like jazz funneled through a David Lynch movie, or maybe it's indie-rock funneled through an old gramophone; either way, there's plenty to like about the trio. Between The Paddle Boat and their other bands -- The Vision of a Dying World, Cuckoo Chaos and Boomsnake -- these guys provide a good portion of the originality that San Diego's music scene has to offer. In other words, The Paddle Boat aren't a mere opening act, they're one of San Diego's finest bands.
Fat Possum recording artist AA Bondy will headline the show. He's a singer/songwriter from Alabama known for his edgy folk songs and dark wit. His first solo album, American Hearts, was one of the better releases of 2007. His latest, When the Devil's Loose, was released in September. Praised by critics, the album was featured on more than a few of those mystical year-end lists that music bloggers love to make.
Bondy and the Paddle Boat are both on the road; The Paddle Boat will play cities in California, Nevada and Arizona through January; Bondy is traveling the States through early February.
The Bondy/Paddle Boat show is an early one, and it starts at 6 p.m., so don't come at the usual time (9:30) unless you're looking to catch Cash'd Out and Graceland, which, of course, is totally fine, too.
T. Loper is a writer for the San Diego music blog Owl and Bear.
