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PAWN SHOPPE HEART
The Von Bondies
(Sire/Warner)
We bet it didn't seem like it at the time, but getting used as Jack White's punching bag could end up being the best thing that ever happened to Jason Stollsteimer.
Sure, The Von Bondies frontman earned a massive shiner when he ended up on the wrong side of The White Striper's fist during a bar brawl back in December. But he also scored the kind of free publicity most bands would happily take a beating for -- especially when they're about to release a major-label debut as deserving of attention as Pawn Shoppe Heart.
With 13 searing, sizzling slabs of punk-rawk chock full of sweaty tom-tom beats, fuzz-drenched guitar riffage and Jason's desperate Johnny Thunders yelp, Pawn Shoppe Heart positions the Von Bondies as the next big things of the Detroit scene.
Like crazed kids messing with their older siblings' chemistry set, the co-ed foursome haphazardly combine elements of blues, metal, soul, R&B, girl-group pop, classic Noo Yawk punk and even touches of The Doors and '70s glam, swirling it all together into a potent, explosive and highly unstable compound.
From the stompy blooz of No Regrets and the chugging rock of Broken Man to the undeniable hooks of first single C'Mon C'Mon and The Fever, and on to the plodding hidden cover of Try a Little Tenderness, Pawn Shoppe Heart crackles with urgency, thrums with tension and flexes its muscles menacingly.
White's right hand may have helped everyone learn Stollsteimer's name -- but this smokin' album oughta ensure no one forgets it.
Track Listing
1. No Regrets
2. Broken Man
3. Cmon Cmon
4. Tell Me What You See
5. Been Swank
6. Mairead
7. Not That Social
8. Crawl Through The Darkness
9. The Fever
10. Right Of Way
11. Poison Ivy
12. Pawn Shoppe Heart