Von Bondies – Love Hate and Then There’s You (MajorDomo)
We’ve given Jason Stollsteimer our share of shit over the years. But we’ve always respected the Von Bondies, going as far as calling them the best band in Detroit way back in 2001.
After going through the major label runaround and a lineup switcheroo, the Von Bondies are back with Love Hate and Then There’s You. It takes balls for a band who has had their level of exposure to kick off a new album with song that claims “We are the underground” (“This Is Our Perfect Crime”). But the Von Bondies have never lacked bravado.
The album is full of punchy rock and roll that never seems embarassed of its Detroit garage roots, but doesn’t seem stuck in that insular ghetto. Big riffs, fun boy-girl vocals, and tons of hooks that get stuck in your head — I swear I woke up the other morning singing, “Never gonna live to see her twenty-first birthday…” (“21st Birthday”). They’ve been sitting on these songs for a while, including several of them on a self-released 2007 EP called We Are Kamikazes Aiming Straight for Your Heart.
But it sounds like the Von Bondies are back and ready to fight.
Well that’s different than the Pitchfork review… I’ll have to check it out. Still, there’s no way they could have sunk as low as the Mooney Suzuki.
It’s a good album. Here’s a free mp3 of “Pale Horse” which is a great song.
http://www.previewnewmusic.com/vonbondies