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Lucky Bastards
By Cassie Hood
hoodc@mscd.edu

Photo courtesy of www.theheartlessbastards.com So these are the guys that killed Kenny. The Heartless Bastards, from left, Mike Lamping, Erika Wennerstrom and Kevin Vaughn.

Some people are lucky.

The Heartless Bastards are three such people. Not long after the indie band’s formation in 2003, the band’s founder, Erika Wennerstrom, set up a small tour to New York and back to Cincinnati, with their opening show at a tiny bar in Akron, Ohio. With only 11 people in the crowd, it was the work of fate that Patrick Carney from The Black Keys was in the audience.

They continued their tour to New York and got little in return other than $300 in parking tickets. The trio seemed ill-fated, but a week after they returned home to Cincinnati, they received an e-mail from Fat Possum Records, The Black Keys’ label. The band played for a record executive, and he signed them right after.

In February 2005, Stairs and Elevators was released, followed by All This Time less than a year later.

The Heartless Bastards’ sound ventures from blues to alternative country while keeping a sarcastic, cynical attitude. Some songs are slow-moving, with the band drudging through each beat while Wennerstrom wails her heart out. Other songs are more forceful, as if screaming for attention in a world of muck and pain.

Wennerstrom’s rustic vocals are reminiscent of old-timer Patti Smith’s. Whether she’s crying about her hard travels or proclaiming her strength, her voice nicely intertwines with the wah-enhanced guitar; both are raw and classic. It may have been a small coincidence that brought this band a lucky break, but their talent and unique sound brought them success. Luck had nothing to do with it.