This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
I bet it didn’t seem like it at the time, but being used as Jack White’s punching bag was a good career move for Jason Stollsteimer.
Sure, The Von Bondies frontman came away sporting 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 fulla 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 ’70s glam, swirling everything together into a potent, explosive and highly unstable concoction.
From the stompy blooz of No Regrets and the chugging rawker Broken Man, through the undeniable hooks of first single C’Mon C’Mon and The Fever, 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 is going to ensure nobody forgets it very soon.
