Forbes Magazine
"Engaging, multi-talented violinist Deni Bonet. Unlike most violinists, she is not nailed to the floor. And she doesn’t shy away from going head-to-head with the guitar player, having fun and breaking an erstwhile-stodgy image of the grand old instrument.”
No Depression
“Tracks on the album soar high with vibrancy and her ability to stun from beginning to end”
Paste Magazine
“Bound to be one of the standout records of 2017, I'm calling this early as one of my favorite records of the year.”
PopDose Magazine
“Just finished listening to this masterpiece. The playing is so damn rich and fine and tempered and textured; the melodies are strong and enveloping”.
Wall Street Journal
“Despite her classical training, [Deni Bonet] keeps her melodies simple; the tunes are as catchy as any Top 40 radio song, but with occasional hints of adult depth …like Sheryl Crow meets the B52’s. One of Ms. Bonet’s strong selling points is her stage presence, which mixes the attitude of a rock star with the concentration of a classically trained concert violinist”
Rob Kemp, Time Out New York
“Deni Bonet’s music evokes Fairport crossed with the Gin Blossoms’ rhythm section with glib lyrics. She could become huge”
Jim Sullivan, Boston Globe
“Sunshine may be the sexiest, sauciest, most life-affirming song of the year”
Michael Richardson, Hudson Current
"The incredible electric violinist, Deni Bonet, will open for Marshall Crenshaw. The sparkling pop arrangements make a great launch pad for her soaring solos. She's no slouch of a vocalist, either, singing clever, brazen lyrics in a Debbie Harry/Suzanne Vega vein."
Daniel Browne, All Music Guide
“In addition to her duties as an arranger and accompanist for hire, violinist Deni Bonet has been releasing her own music since 1996. Finally, in 2002, her full-length debut appeared, giving adult music lovers a reason to rejoice. It's a glorious, intelligent hookfest, the likes of which listeners have desperately needed since pop became a marketing strategy for Mickey Mouse Club graduates. Most of the songs on Bigger Is Always Better (available from www.denibonet.com) first appeared on a pair of EPs. While most have been re-recorded to give them an extra polish, the results do not sound tame or slick. From the dirty guitar lick that opens "I Scream Your Name" to the sunny "yeah yeah yeah" chorus of "Then I'll Really Love You" and the goofy loops of "Phat, Stoopid, and Totally Def," Bonet and her band sound so high-spirited, it's a wonder they don't burst right off the disc. Despite her virtuosity, she never lets her violin playing distract from a catchy tune or a witty lyric. Instead, she saves all the showing off for an instrumental cheekily titled "The Goddamn Violin Solo." Bonet sings with such passion, it would take a true curmudgeon, not to hear the boundless enthusiasm and abundant talent that went into Bigger Is Always Better.” - Daniel Browne, All Music Guide
Thebigtakeover.com
"Bonet was a marvel, (at SXSW), the perfect balance of taste and grandiosity."
RadioIndy
“Last Girl On Earth” by Deni Bonet is an adult contemporary rock CD featuring a strong female giving a strong message to the world.
Front and center on the CD is Deni's songwriting and her impressive violin work. Deni's songwriting is full of strong thoughts and emotions along with clever and witty lyrics, and catchy choruses. The musicianship and recording quality of the CD is extremely high, and the result of an all-star cast surrounding Deni.
“How Far Can I Push You,” a duet with the folksinger and author John Wesley Harding, features a strong rock groove with effective, fast-moving lyrics in the verses, and a memorable chorus with catchy chord progressions. With “Word Up,” Bonet and well-known girl group BETTY take the R&B classic and give it a funky, feminized twist. "Don't Turn Away from Love" nicely builds to a memorable chorus, and features an oustanding horn counterpart.
If you enjoy excellent adult rock songwriting filled with wit, maturity, intelligence, and outstanding musicianship, check out this CD.
It Sucks But Its True
How to describe Deni Bonet? I'm not sure that I can. She has the characteristics of so many artist that are fantastic, which is one of the reasons why I have to say, she is as well. It's not often you can say a girl with a violin has put out a kick ass album. After you listen to Last Girl On Earth, you will, assuming you can stop laughing long enough to say it.
Her lyrics are a cross between Avenue Q's subject matter and Greg Proops' dry sense of humor. If you can't come away from this album with a smile on your face you probably need to have your sense of humor adjusted. Two of the songs that bring out the best giggles are It Sucks But Its True and Fuck It! Anyone that can write a song called Fuck It and have it come off as an anthem gets my vote, and wins all the cookies.
Deni, I owe you a batch of cookies! Play a show near Pittsburgh and I promise to bring them along!
Not only is Deni a great singer/songwriter/violinist but she's also a long time blogger. This reviewer blushed when she visited her blog from her official site and realized a was a frequent reader over the years.
Deni is the real deal. She plays a mean violin and she writes music that the listener can relate to. This album is down to earth, fun, and funny. Its the kind of album you put on when you want a pick me up and keep on long after.
She's been described as sounding like Sheryl Crow meets the B-52s but that doesn't do her the justice that she deserves. Deni is truly a unique voice in a sea of same old same olds. One has only to hear her cover of Cameo's Word Up to know that she's a true original.
The only question I have after spinning the CD a few dozen times, is why Deni wants to start a riot with John, Paul, George BUT NOT RINGO!!!! (last line comes from the song I Want To Get Arrested)
But for you....
If you want a laugh; listen to Deni Bonet.
If you want to hear the best rock violin; listen to Deni Bonet.
In short, you want to listen to Deni Bonet.
~ Mossip. Your guide to this week's Music Gossip
Last Girl On Earth – Deni Bonet (M.R2 Records)
The CD cover of this Singer/Songwriter/Violinist’s new release gives a clever hint into the ambiguity and essence of her creations. The artist, dressed in black, lies in a field of warm brown and red instruments, except for the one she holds in her hand, which is a delicate COLD blue.
We already know, before even reading the revealing song titles, that there will be a gleeful mix of the sharp and the gentle.
Opening track ‘Is This A Test’ juggles feisty brash guitar, with a pure pop knowledge and delightfully the violin isn’t thrown head of the mix, but subtly swings around the edges of one of the few songs about fear written this year you can dance crazy to.
Bonet isn’t afraid to poke fun at her persona and her relationships, deep in the security of self knowledge and ability to write about love without feeling self conscious.
After a quirky cover of a soul/disco classic (Cameo’s ‘Word Up) we venture further leftfield with an intriguing take of scattered overheard conversations, showing us again the unease that twirls just inside the so called ordinary.
We encounter two versions of the track ‘Last Girl On Earth’ and for me the sparse piano/string driven thing works the best, showcasing once more the fragile hesitation, balancing tightrope like, with the strong smile/shrug.
We come now to my two favourite tracks on the album. ‘It Sucks But It’s True’ has a glorious edge to it, allowing the writers irritation to become a ragged changeling of an alt rock song.
And finally ‘Fuck It’ a sweet foul mouthed anthem, destined to be sung in cars and bars and stadiums, with pride and drunken vigour.
~ by nbtmusic on July 10, 2008.
“Last Girl On Earth” by Deni Bonet is an adult contemporary rock CD featuring a strong female giving a strong message to the world. Front and center on the CD is Deni's songwriting and her impressive violin work. Deni's songwriting is full of strong thoughts and emotions along with clever and witty lyrics, and catchy choruses. The musicianship and recording quality of the CD is extremely high, and the result of an all-star cast surrounding Deni. “How Far Can I Push You,” a duet with the folksinger and author John Wesley Harding, features a strong rock groove with effective, fast-moving lyrics in the verses, and a memorable chorus with catchy chord progressions. With “Word Up,” Bonet and well-known girl group BETTY take the R&B classic and give it a funky, feminized twist. "Don't Turn Away from Love" nicely builds to a memorable chorus, and features an oustanding horn counterpart. If you enjoy excellent adult rock songwriting filled with wit, maturity, intelligence, and outstanding musicianship, check out this CD.
~ Lea P. and the RadioIndy Reviewer Team
"In addition to her duties as an arranger and accompanist for hire, violinist Deni Bonet has been releasing her own music since 1996. Finally, in 2001, her full-length debut appeared, giving adult music lovers a reason to rejoice. It's a glorious, intelligent hookfest, the likes of which listeners have desperately needed since pop became a marketing strategy for Mickey Mouse Club graduates. Most of the songs on Bigger Is Always Better (available from www.denibonet.com) first appeared on a pair of EPs. While most have been re-recorded to give them an extra polish, the results do not sound tame or slick. From the dirty guitar lick that opens "I Scream Your Name" to the sunny "yeah yeah yeah" chorus of "Then I'll Really Love You" and the goofy loops of "Phat, Stoopid, and Totally Def," Bonet and her band sound so high-spirited, it's a wonder they don't burst right off the disc. Despite her virtuosity, she never lets her violin playing distract from a catchy tune or a witty lyric. Instead, she saves all the showing off for an instrumental cheekily titled "The Goddamn Violin Solo." Unfortunately, the track lives up to its name. It disrupts the flow of the album just as it's galloping to a conclusion. (If a display of prowess was necessary, the one-and-a-half-minute interlude "Tick-Tock" would have sufficed.) There are other flaws. The album's high point, the magnificent self-love anthem "Sunshine," is marred by the inelegant bleeping of its one climactic obscenity. And Bonet sings with such passion, one wishes she wouldn't rely on her speaking voice in quite so many songs. It would take a true curmudgeon, though, to hear the boundless enthusiasm and abundant talent that went into Bigger Is Always Better and not forgive the album's faults."
Daniel Browne, All Music Guide, MSN
"Bigger is always better! That's according to classically-trained violinst Deni Bonet, who left behind the highbrow world of classical music in favor of her own brand of fiddle wizardry. And to that end, the accolades keep accumulating. From her days as one of the original members of the acclaimed public radio program Mountain Stage to touring with the likes of REM and making a buzz at the Lilith Fair, Bonet is a breath of fresh air. Whether she's whittling out a scurrying musical frenzy on those electrified strings, or haunting your heartstrings with a poetic ballad, Bonet's performance is always a treat."
Terri Lagerstedt, Fairfield (CT) County Weekly
"WDST has added Deni Bonet to our playlist"
"Bigger is Always Better out-requested most of this spring's major label releases... and they dress really good."
Nic Harcourt, Music Director, WDST, Woodstock
"I got a burst of sunshine in the mail last weekend from Deni Bonet, the Manhattan-based violinist/accordionist/singer who leads the band of the same name. If she's not famous in the next year, the music business is worse than I've imagined"
"She just released an EP (cleverly titled EP) that's equal parts fire (Alone) and uninhibited pop exuberance (Sunshine) with a bit of Mekons thrown in"
Fran Fried, Music Editor, New Haven Register
"Sunshine may be the sexiest, sauciest, most life affirming song of the year. "
Jim Sullivan, Music Editor, Boston Globe
"LILITH FAIR '98: Among the artists who performed on the 2nd & 3rd stages, Deni Bonet was the standout, displaying a rare combination of wit & musical exuberance on numbers like The Girlfriends of Dorian Grey (mocking guys who "throw away" lovers when they tire of them) and Sunshine, an infectious statement of purpose.
"I want to be charming, I want to be crude/I want to be a masterpiece, I want to be rude," she sang during the latter. If McLachlan's new artistically inclusive Lilith Fair is looking for a slogan, I'll nominate that one."
Jay Lustig, Music Editor, Newark Star Ledger
"Of the early acts playing on the cramped "Village Stage," Deni Bonet was the clear winner, buttressing her caustic compositions, like Bigger Is Always Better and The Girlfriends of Dorian Grey, with frenetic fiddlings, unleashing arching arpeggios at once far removed, but ever so close, to her classical music background."
Post-Star
"25 MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM SXSW:
6. Lisa Germano and Susan Voelz have gotten us used to thinking of female rock violinists as brooding songwriters with outlooks as dark as their clothing. But New Yorker Deni Bonet delivered a delightfully upbeat set at the State Theater, highlighted by the nervy, Bigger Is Always Better and a hit-waiting-to-happen called Phat, Stoopid, Totally Def (And I Love You)"
David Okamoto, Assistant Editor,
Dallas Morning News
"Deni Bonet, singer, songwriter, electric violinist and accordionist was an original and seven year member of the cast of Mountain Stage. But Bonet has gone on to bigger and better things. The best of Deni Bonet comes out in layering fiddle over a rock beat. She plays with the frenetic enthusiasm and facial expressiveness of an air guitar-slinging teen, dancing around the stage in a summer dress and black boots, and generally carrying on like a punker at heart who's been - well, stuck in West Virginia for most of the decade. Most of her songs would be at home on the modern rock radio playlist. Sunshine is reminiscent of Girls Just Want To Have Fun & Material Girl and other musical monuments to a society that has too much time on it's hands.
At her best, Bonet gives the tantalizing impression that she's capable of more than the intelligent pop gems she wears like costume jewelry. Her passionate playing achieves something close to the gypsy soulfulness of Scarlett Rivera, Dylan's fiddler on Desire; at other times she weaves classical and Appalachian influences into her playing."
Todd Paul, Woodstock Times
"Deni Bonet makes a powerful debut with this 7- song EP. The music is high-energy pop with intelligent lyrics."
Dirty Linen
"Bonet's music is an intriguing blend of modern rock, mixed with folk influences and a strong sense of humor. With it's melodramatic lyrics and knack for catchy melodies, Deni Bonet is destined for bigger things, and as she herself professes: Bigger Is Always Better."
George Fletcher, Poughkeepsie Journal
"I never thought I'd find myself saying this about a band, but Deni Bonet are a feel good group, and that is not a bad thing. This band is so uplifting that they leave a smile on my face every time I listen to the disc."
Endangered Species
"Bonet and her band preceded Sobule with a lively set, reminiscent of sweet-and -sour genre-blenders such as Poi Dog Pondering and Cracker."
Jeanne Cooper, The Boston Globe
"They quickly blew away any notion that a band fronted by a violinist (Deni Bonet herself) in a red dress would play like folkies - Nancy Griffith, say. Instead, they packed the power of a punk band but one that pickup-trucked into the big town after wood shedding at their cabin with some Sex Pistols records. As the disclaimer on her CD "EP" warns, her music contains irony too: so the love songs Alone, Then I'll Really Love You and Don't Make Promises had a wonderfully high "Huh?" factor. She rapped in Small Talk, rocked hard in (If You Love Me) Make Me Hate You and It Sucks But It's True and exploded with sexy joy in I Scream Your Name and Sunshine."
The Daily Gazette
"She says she decided against being a concert violinist because she hated having to wear black and sit still."
Dawn Eden, New York Press
"The band's folk-rock evokes Fairport crossed with the Gin Blossom's rhythm section. They could become huge."
Time Out New York
"The incredible electric violinist, Deni Bonet, will open for Marshall Crenshaw. The sparkling pop arrangements make a great launch pad for her soaring solos. She's no slouch of a vocalist, either, singing clever, brazen lyrics in a Debbie Harry/Suzanne Vega vein."
Michael Richardson, Music Editor, Hudson Current
"Attitude is a fine thing if there's talent to accompany it and Deni Bonet has plenty of both. Pop just crackling with intelligence, sexual innuendo, attitude and oddity."
Mountain Xpress, Asheville, NC
"This is definitely one of the best tapes to cross my path over the past couple of months. The song Sunshine will make you smile no matter what kind of a mood you are in. If this band isn't signed soon, I will be very surprised."
Spook, Pit Picks
"Deni sings, sounds a lot like Debbie Harry and plays a mean, hauntingly aggressive electric violin. The sound is surprisingly heavy, given Deni's billing as 'sensitive singer-songwriter type', and would slot quite neatly into the intelligent, female-led brand of Indie rock which is becoming popular. By the time you read this it's likely the band will have been snapped up by an A&R hound, so be sure to seek them out."
Tape of the month sponsored by AKG
Making Music, UK
"Deni Bonet- a singer/songwriter and electric violinist - leads a very exciting band that layers electric violin, accordion, and mandolin on top of the traditional rock guitars and drums."
The Sunday Record
"Deni Bonet hem hisli hem de "politically correct" sarkilar soyledi."
Yeni Yuzyil, Istanbul