Not Such Heartless Bastards After All

The heart of the Heartless Bastards is Erika Wennerstrom, who wears hers on her sleeve. Her band's new album, The Mountain, features a new, bold sound.

In "Hold Your Head High," Wennerstrom begins by announcing, "I've made a lot of choices / Most have not been wise." Most rock stars would make these lines boastful or self-pitying. Wennerstrom floods her sentiments with ruefulness and regret, and, still in the space of a mere 11 words, also fills them with a resolve to not be so messed-up in the future. She has a gift for making life's errors into more than cheesy life lessons — they become statements of resolve.

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