Vigilantes of Love

    Vigilantes of Love

    Athens, Georgia25 reviews across 15 releases

    alternative countryalternative rockamericanafolk rock
    DiscogsWebsiteBandcamp

    Vigilantes of Love was an Athens, Georgia, rock band formed in 1990 around the songs of Bill Mallonee. It began in an acoustic setting, then expanded into the rougher, roots-oriented band heard on the 1992 Killing Floor, where mandolin and furious guitar supported songs about the Civil War, recession, and the absurdities of the "Hip Train." Welcome To Struggleville brought a more forceful alternative-rock attack, with Mallonee's raspy singing and poetic, explicitly Christian writing set against sharp guitar and punchy rhythm. The band could place "Andersonville," a waltz about a soldier trapped in the Civil War, beside comic material without losing its seriousness. By Slow Dark Train, Mallonee's guitar had moved to the foreground after sustained touring, while electronic effects and occasional orchestral colors broadened the ragged, loud arrangements without displacing the songs.

    In 1998, Capricorn dropped the band, beginning a period of independent releases and unstable distribution. Fans helped book a national tour, while the group recorded with Buddy Miller and continued working in Britain, where BBC support for "Resplendent" brought a larger audience. The 1999 Cheltenham concert later documented on Fade to Black preserved the four-piece of Mallonee, Kenny Hutson, Jake Bradley, and Kevin Heuer during its busiest period, when the band was touring roughly 180 dates a year. Vigilantes of Love disbanded in 2001. Mallonee continued as a solo singer-songwriter, and the 2003 Need to Bleed collected earlier material with acoustic demos aimed at established listeners. Fade to Black appeared in 2004 as a record of the band's 1999 performance rather than a new phase.

    15 releases reviewed