Julia Callis
The Motor City rockers hit Mickey’s on April 7.
It’s pretty clear that Bill Lennox, the co-founder, co-songwriter and lead vocalist of Detroit’s lo-fi Bonny Doon, gets Madison. As well he should: He spent a year and a half here beginning in 2008, just hanging around, jamming in bands while his high school buddy attended the university.
“Madison is sort of idealized for me. The vibe is right in line with Bonny Doon,” says Lennox. “A progressive, slow town with cool people.”
These three descriptors could also easily apply to Bonny Doon’s recently released, self-titled debut disc, a languid collection of country-flecked garage rock that finds Lennox contemplating emoji texts from his mom and the existentially ambivalent pleasures of celebrating yet another birthday. The band is set to co-headline a gig with Madison’s Proud Parents at Mickey’s Tavern on April 7.
“It’s about getting by each day,” Lennox says of the songs he’s written with longtime friend and Bonny Doon co-founder Bobby Columbo. “It’s the thoughts I’d have if I were talking to a therapist.”
That probably explains lines like “I’m trying, trying to be/Everything I can be/But I don’t have the energy” from the song “Relieved,” and the contemplative, miss-you rocker “Evening All Day Long.” Lennox points to the Velvet Underground and Neil Young as musical inspirations, but much of the band’s vibe actually sounds like the lo-fi magic of early Wilco.
“The music comes from me thinking about the music I want to hear that isn’t out there,” says Lennox. They recorded it in 2015, but took a year and a half to mix it, and they released it in early March. As a result, they’re already fixated on returning to the studio to tackle another album — while booking all their own gigs for their Midwestern tour.
“We’re excited to get the songs out there, but we’re also at a more evolved place as a band,” says Lennox. “We have a couple more years under our belt playing together; We’re a better band.
Lennox says he’s especially looking forward to hitting Mickey’s, a Madison venue he hasn’t visited in more than seven years.
“I’m just leaning into the lifestyle at this point,” he laughs. “For now, we’re just striking a balance, and booking shows based on who we want to hang out with.”
