The Von Bondies
‘Pawn Shoppe Heart’

I’ve been looking forward to this album after the first single ‘C’mon C’mon’ came out which was really good, so I was left thinking will the rest of the album be that good? To which the answer is: sort of – the pace isn’t maintained all the way through but this isn’t a bad thing. However it just doesn’t totally do it for me. It rocks and it rolls but it feels sometimes too stuck in the past and sometimes too modern and the two don’t mix well.

Yeah, the tunes are great. Some of them follow ‘C’mon C’mon’s’ lead by being loud and brash, some of them are more downbeat and drag their heels on the floor. ‘Mairead’ is one of these and the bluesy, sultry, sexy style suits Jason Stollsteimer’s powerful voice, as does ‘Right of Way’ which sounds a bit like the White Stripes. Jason isn’t the only one who does vocals though, bassist Carrie Smith takes the lead on ‘Not that Social’ and it has some of the best lyrics on the album: ‘I’m not that social/ Just a good drinker’. The tune itself is a lot more modern than the rest of the album like some of the girl bands from the nineties.

One of the highlights of the album is ‘The Fever’ which is basically a call and response between Jason and the girls that’s pacey and it