Von Bondies' Pawn Shoppe Heart Due In 2004

Working with producer Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads, The Modern Lovers), Detroit's seething, soulful Von Bondies recently wrapped up recording sessions for their second full-length, Pawn Shoppe Heart (Sire Records), due for release early next year.

And like the band's 2000 debut album, Lack of Communication (Sympathy for the Record Industry), the new record was inspired by a certain girl. "The whole first record was written about one girl," lead singer/guitarist Jason Stollsteimer said in an interview last year. "The same girl, by chance — and I haven't seen her in a few years — me and her started hanging out again... So there's some songs definitely related to that. I went out with her for like three and a half years but not now. Right now we're like the best of friends but it doesn't make it any easier; if you're passionate about something, it's worth waiting.

"You know, I give credit to her — she messed me up pretty bad," he added with a pained laugh. "The idea of the 'pawn shoppe heart' is when people break up they normally get rid all the stuff they had with the other person, no matter how much they meant to them."

The new record was also inspired by Stollsteimer's hometown. "The street I live on in Detroit, Michigan Avenue, has like 10 antique and pawn shops in a row," he said. "Just think about how many engagement rings are in those pawn shops; all these broken promises and all the 'I hope it works out.'"

A video for the record's single, "C'mon C'mon," debuted in the UK this month. The track listing for the new album: "No Regrets," "Broken Man," "C'mon C'mon," "Tell Me What You See," "Been Swank" (surely inspired by drummer Ben Swank of fellow Detroit band Soledad Brother), "Mailread," "Not That Social," "Crawl Through the Darkness," "The Fever," "I've Got the Right of Way," "Love Is Like a Drug," "Pawn Shoppe Heart."

The Von Bondies — Stollsteimer, guitarist/vocalist Marcie Bolen, bassist/vocalist Carrie Smith and drummer Don Blum — formed in 1999, releasing the Jack White-produced Lack of Communication in 2000, recording a well-regarded John Peel session in 2001 and inking a deal with Sire Records in 2002 after label founder Seymour Stein caught an Amsterdam gig. "I never thought I'd leave Michigan, number one,' Stollsteimer said, "and then when we played Cleveland I was like, 'Yay, we're playing Cleveland,' and all of a sudden it's like, 'I'm in London, how the hell did we get here?'" — Jenny Tatone [Friday, November 14, 2003]