Austin Sound

Down at the End of the Bar is a relentlessly polished release from a country singer who’s had nothing but good press thrown his way since the release of his debut album, Bangs, Bullets, and the Turtle Mountatins. Leo Rondeau’s skittish, warbley vocals sound warm, toned and confident on his latest release as he tells tales of boozing loners, love gone awry, and clueless heretics. There are many sides to Rondeau on Bar. The impressionable, and slyly passionate yodelings that dress the album are trademark and come off especially appealing on the folksy “She’ll Get the Advantage” and “Better Place for You,” both vulnerable points for Rondeau and Bar. They manage, however, to wear their vulnerability well.

Rondeau also displays a wit of country balladry on the fatalistic “Had I Known” (”Kept it in my heart it was only self defense/ But I’d shoot a man down if I ever had the chance”). The title track from Bar, a lonely remit of a barfly too young, is awash in steel and waltz-time guitars giving Rondeau a beer-soaked background to muse over in a lazy drawl. His voice gives steam to songs that would otherwise sound contrived. “Weary Owls” gives a willing glance towards alt-country while “Rhinestones” is redeemed by Rondeau’s ear for a good hook and a heavy country back beat.

A more whimsical and adventurous Rondeau comes through in the Dixieland flavored “Rapture” (“Where did everybody go?”/ Chorus: “Rapture!”) and “Blues Came Today” (“Here’s to supposing if the world was frozen/ I wouldn’t be the only one who was blue”). He writes with simplicity, but in a half-drunk tongue-in-cheek air and with an artful lack of symmetry in his melodies through much of the album, so his songs are always a few steps ahead of the norm. More sober tunes like “Elephant in this Room” and the lament, “Had I Known” do well combining Rondeau’s idiosyncratic writing with the artist’s forlorn and darker side. While they might not entertain as well as other more sunny tracks, they provide the album with a depth that would otherwise be minuscule.

Perhaps Rondeau’s greatest talent lies in his ability to write achingly honest county songs without sounding like he meant to and thereby spoiling their Western pedigree. Influenced by earlier country and folk legends such as Robert Earl Keen and Towns van Zandt, Rondeau displays a striking wit in his lyricism that drive the songs. His focus is on the words and the characters that he sings about. His songs are meditated and composed with such maturity, that his writing verges on an unwitting and mystical passing of the torch.

Websites:
www.leorandeau.net
Myspace