Bombadil at the Visulite Theatre tonight (5/5/2012)

by

comment

BOMBADIL You'd expect a band that takes its name from a J.R.R. Tolkein character to be cute and quirky, but you'd only be half right. Out of the gate, Durham's Bombadil took a kitchen-sink-hits-the backwoods-approach, throwing banjo, trumpet, ukulele and pan flute at twee pop, spastic waltzes, Preservation era Kinks and everything in between. With recent lyrics focused on suicide, resignation and resilience, Bombadil has matured. The quirk remains, but now the Rube Goldberg musical gizmos sit atop a solid bedrock of gypsy folk, alt-country harmonies and heartfelt pop. At heart, they're still the adorable nerdcore ragamuffins of yore, but added gravitas has Bombadil charting a course midway between Animal Collective and The Band. With Justin Robinson & The Mary Annettes. $10-$12. Visulite Theatre.