| It’s
good to be a Bondie |
|
They’ve
got image. They’ve got talent. They’ve got an incredible
new record. But for the last four months, the Von Bondies have been
stuck under a dark cloud, making them Detroit’s next big thing
for all the wrong reasons. Understatements being what they are, the new record, Pawn Shoppe Heart (Sire) stands nowhere near the bands debut, Lack Of Communication (Sympathy For The Record Industry), which isn’t exactly a bad thing. In an Ann Arbor Paper interview last October, Stollsteimer explained the difference between the two records. “With the last album, yeah, you could definitely call us a ‘garage band,’ but the new album is really powerful—it’s much more substantial than the last record. We were proud of Lack Of Communication, but I think we were more proud of just having an album out than we were of what we put on the album.” Since the last album was produced by Jim Diamond of The Dirtbombs and Jack White, both known for stripping sound to its bare bones when making records, there was a lot of compromise on Stollsteimer’s part. “I heard all these other sounds, but we couldn’t do any of it because it was like ‘Alright, you’ve got four tracks—drums, bass, guitar, and vocals—and that’s it,’” explained Stollsteimer. For the new record, the band handed the producing duties over to Jerry Harrison of the Talking Heads. The result is something completely disparate from Lack, but definitely something that the band can identify more with as their sound. The
first five tracks on the album are a relentless panoply of rock’n’roll—seismic
guitar jaunts; flouncing, thudding bass; drums that beat down like
a monsoon; and the echoic hisses, hushes, and wails of Stollsteimer’s
vocal gala. The albums opener, “No Regrets,” is a slow,
but vicious strut of guitars accompanied by sledging drums topped
with some feverish crooning. The first single “C’Mon
C’Mon” is the rock’n’roll equivalent of
an STD—dangerous and catchy as all hell. The record changes
course halfway through for about three songs with “Not That
Social,” “Crawl Through The Darkness,” and “The
Fever”—all three thriving on lecherous female-fronted
vocals from both bassist Carrie Smith and guitarist Marcie Bolen.
Pawn
Shoppe Heart, aberration from their debut aside, is exactly what
the Von Bondies need right now—something that proves they’re
worth the otherwise farcical attention. A2P
|
|
 |
| INTERVIEWS |
| MUSIC 10 Local Bands You Need To See Rock Photography of Doug Coombe The Bluegrass Festival Great Music Rip-offs Tony Rice Not-Guilty Pleasures Mastodon |
COLUMNS |
| REVIEWS |
| PLUS: |