| · Two hits – Jack White hitting you. You hitting the floor.
Now that the swelling has gone down and snickering subsided, The Von Bondies have released their album Pawn Shoppe Heart. For those of you not a fan of entertainment television, singer Jason Stollsteimer got his ass kicked by Jack White (OK, stop laughing). This backstage altercation left Stollsteimer’s face looking like a pile of hamburger and White with a court date.
White, a mentor and producer of the band, made his influence known on their previous release, appropriately titled Lack of Communication. And like all petulant children when cornered by an overprotective parent, The Von Bondies lashed out and learned from their growing pains. The absence of White’s over-intellectualized minimalism is apparent, and although The Von
Bondies don’t cover new ground with Pawn Shoppe Heart, this transitional album tries its best to remove itself from the Detroit garage sound.
This is a standard rock record and in that they triumph. The rhythm section is tight, the lyrics are stupid and the boy-girl vocal tradeoffs are classic. The witless single "C’mon C’mon," is sure to be a hit, but the band really shines on songs where they relax a bit, ("Broken Man"). Bassist Carrie Smith steals Stollsteimer’s spotlight on "Not That Social," where she sings the seductive anti-ballad with all the leather and lace of a rock goddess. The album has redundant blues riffs and an odd Gary Glitter-Jim Morrison influence I can’t put my finger on. It’s simple, overproduced and catchy-as-hell. Rock on, my brothers and sisters.
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