by ERIC ALLEN
When you first see The Fondas live onstage,
it just feels like something great is going on in the room.
It's not only the beautiful blonde/raven - haired front woman
Julie Benjamin, whose sultry voice lingers over the dusty
sound of yesteryear's rock 'n' roll and R&B.
It's not just the guitar attack of Mark Niemenski and
Steve Shaw or the bouncing rythm section of Nick Sokolowski
and Chip Sercombe. It's that The Fondas, united as one entity,
can set up and bring a room to it's knees within the
30 minutes they are alloted on stage each night.
Formed in 2002, The Fondas have been blasting out the pop
and R&B inspired rock 'n' roll for more than five years now.
Between the members' shared interest in such music and the
process of making records, the group decided to strike out and
form a band. "We all like lot's of different stuff, but have enough
common ground where it sounds like it is coming from the same
place," guitarist Steve Shaw says. While some bands struggle
with thier sound for years, Shaw relays that The Fondas
did'nt have much trouble at all: "For what ever reason our
sound evolved rather quickly when Julie started singing in the band."
In 2003, the group released their first single, "Wanna Be" and their
first full-length long player, Coming now. When strapping on the head
phones to listen to The Fondas, several things pop out in ones mind.
The band has an extremly original sound that is a culmination of several
classic genres hardly ever mixed. The band perfectly melds the
doo-wop of a Del Shannon with the tenacity of the Ramones, the
garage psych of The Jujus and the country ramblings of Buck Owens.
The Fondas continued to stay busy as they dropped the bomb
on the local music scene in 2006 when they released three vinyl gems.
A single for the instant-classic "Make You Mine", allong with their
second full-length Runaway Bombshell and a split with The Ettes
made for an unforgetable year. The split single was extremely
fantastic as it featured the bands playing the allways-astounding
songs of Reigning Sound and former Oblivians frontman, Greg Cartwright.
What's on tap this summer for the band after the gig at CityFest?
"Recording is the top priority this summer," Shaw states. "We
will be recording a Christmas song Mark wrote, hopping to get it
out for the Holidays,"
Shaw says. Hopefully, Christmas comes early this year for
Fondas fans.
REAL DETROIT WEEKLY July 4-10, 2007
The Fondas "CHRISTMAS HEART ATTACK" (recorded in 2007)
featured on the Christmas comp "Holiday Hootenanny" http://cdbaby.com/cd/holidayhootenanny
RUNAWAY BOMBSHELL The Fondas 14 song LP/CD
OUT NOW on Sympathy for the Record Industry (SFTRI)
"On RUNAWAY BOMBSHELL the Fondas blend its punk guitar attack with a refined classic pop sensibility and the equally classy vocals of its singer Julie Benjamin, who combines go-getting sexuality on high energy cuts like the Kinks-influenced "Make You Mine" with hard-edged realism on the tough-minded "Don't Come Back." ..............
also out on SFTRI the Fondas 7" Make You Mine/In Your Room (non LP/CD b-side)......
...and From the Songbook of Greg Cartwright
a split 7" single
The Fondas "Dont Come Back" / the Ettes " We Repel Each Other"
THE FONDAS "COMING NOW!" CD/LP
the fondas "coming now!" features the single Wanna Be.........'Fuzzy' is the best way to describe this song. Rad guitar sound, simple lyrics... all around good stuff!! I just Wanna Be touched by you!....
on SFTRI the Fondas debut 7" Wanna Be/Hey Pretty Baby (non LP/CD b-side)
Sympathy For The Record Industry
