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illustration by debby wolfinsohn/sayhidesign.com
On
December 13 of last year, Jason Stollsteimer,
the Von Bondies' lead singer and principal songwriter,
made his mainstream pop culture debut, appearing
in damn near every music publication and many
mainstream newspapers--with a swollen eye and
a bloody nose, the his music, garnering the
lion's share of media attention.
Attending
a concert at the Magic Stick in Detroit, Stollsteimer
was approached by the White Stripes' Jack White.
According to a statement issued by Von Bondies'
management, White attacked Stollsteimer "without
warning or provocation." The statement
continues, asserting that White "punched
[Stollsteimer] in the head and face repeatedly"
and "forced Stollsteimer to the ground
and continued his attack until White was restrained
by several crowd members." The injuries
suffered by Stollsteimer necessitated one eye
surgery, and, he said, he will likely have to
have another one. "I have really good eyes,"
he said. "Minus that."
White, who claims he was acting in self-defense,
now faces charges of aggravated assault and
a maximum sentence of one year in jail. He will
stand trial March 9, the same day that the Von
Bondies' major-label debut, Pawn Shoppe Heart,
hits the stores in the U.S. Ironically, it was
White who essentially discovered the group,
first including them in his groundbreaking Sympathetic
Sounds of Detroit compilation, then helping
them land a record deal with Sympathy for the
Record Industry and subsequently producing the
Von Bondies' full-length debut, 2001's Lack
of Communication. While his efforts have brought
the Von Bondies (intentionally and accidentally)
into the public eye, until now most any reference
to the band has harped on the role White has
played in their development.
But all that is likely to soon change. Compared
to the new album, Lack of Communication is a
markedly lo-fi production, very much in line
with the White Stripes' minimalist ethos. The
result is, in many ways, a thin-sounding record,
one which never approaches the brilliance of
their reckless live sound.
"The
first record is very primitive--the recording,
everything of it," Stollsteimer says. "We've
kind of set ourselves apart from our last record,
and we did that on purpose. The last record
we had two days to get it recorded and to the
pressing plant. So, in two days, you can't exactly
make the best record. Don't get me wrong, we
were really proud of the first record,"
he explains, "but we didn't have any idea
what we wanted to sound like."
For Pawn Shoppe Heart, the band took a different
approach, hoping to more closely approximate
the feel of their live performances. With the
aid of former Modern Lover and Talking Head
Jerry Harrison in the producer's chair, Pawn
Shoppe turns out to be a thick, vibrant rock
'n' roll record, a significant improvement over
previous efforts, and it allows the Von Bondies
to step out of the musical shadow of Jack White
and into their own well-deserved spotlight.
"We knew exactly what we wanted to do,
and we got it done," Stollsteimer said.
"On the new record, the sound is the closest
we've come to getting the exact sound we wanted
overall."
From the very beginning of the album's lead
song, "No Regrets," the Von Bondies
boast a swaggering sound, reminiscent of Alex
Chilton-produced Cramps. Through this air, Stollsteimer
and company conjure the spirits of garage bands
past while putting forth the authentic energy
and aggression that stamps cuts like "C'mon
C'mon" and "Tell Me What You See"
(with a vocal recalling Richard Hell) with an
originality that is no one's but their own.
The Von Bondies' sound is right at home in the
garage- and punk-rock lexicons and is a direct
descendant of Detroit's legendary and influential
proto-punk bands the Stooges and the MC5. What's
funny, though, is that Stollsteimer, who writes
and performs rock 'n' roll as though he was
raised by Iggy Pop and Keith Richards, was never
really consciously influenced by these monumental,
seemingly apropos bands.
"After listening to our first record, think
of what the influences would be and you wouldn't
find one," Stollsteimer said. "I always
get asked, 'You must have listened to the Stooges
or the MC5 and the Gun Club and the Scientists'
and all this stuff, and I always say, 'nope.'
I didn't have one of those records until last
year."
Unlike guitarist Marcie Bolan, who "grew
up appreciating the roots of music, the history
of it," in part because her dad was a record
collector, Stollsteimer was raised in a household
"whose record collection probably consisted
of my mom's Neil Diamond and Kenny G."
Instead, Stollsteimer's influences are an ahistorical
mishmash of aggressive stuff (the first album
he owned was Public Enemy's Fear of a Black
Planet) and soul music. "I love the way
that Otis Redding sang. It sounded like he was
going to break down in tears at any time,"
Stollsteimer says. "If there was a singing-style
influence, there's that."
As a result, Stollsteimer has some gaps to fill
in his knowledge of would-be VB's influences.
A case in point: The Von Bondies met Jerry Harrison
after a show in Los Angeles, where he approached
them about working together. "I had no
idea he was even in the Talking Heads when I
first met him," Stollsteimer says. "I
was embarrassed that I didn't immediately go,
'Oh, you're Jerry Harrison from the Talking
Heads!' I felt bad, because everybody else in
the band was like, 'Oh my god, it's Jerry Harrison!'
and I felt really dumb."
Harrison's
production fills out the band's sound without
losing the rawness of their stage performances.
"A lot of producers get caught up in using
a lot of effects," says Stollsteimer. "A
lot of people try to add too much. Not Jerry."
Still, several songs in the band's new repertoire
exude many great (and apparently accidental)
influences, whether Stollsteimer is fully aware
of them or not. The album's title track is dynamically
reminiscent of another great Midwestern proto-punk
rock 'n' roll band, Cleveland's Rocket from
the Tombs, and "Poison Ivy" serves
as the perfect mixture of Stooges racket and
guitar riffing reminiscent of the Velvets' "Waiting
for the Man." A couple of other songs blend
allusions to garage- and punk-rock's past with
Stollsteimer's documented soul inflections:
"Mairead" finds Stollsteimer channeling
his idol, Otis Redding, to croon--almost like
Lux Interior, if he really meant it--and "Right
of Way" is essentially traceable to that
most R&B-based of original British Invasion
groups, the Animals, but with a garage flair
that places the song in cool 60s B-movie territory.
Even the band's website is an accidental homage
to punk-rock's past. At first glance, a visit
to VonBondies.com betrays their influences:
the black and white photo of the band sitting
on a couch, paired with the band's name written
in script and the use of hot pink, stands as
a direct allusion to the New York Dolls' legendary
self-titled debut and its classic cover art.
"No, I've never seen it," says Stollsteimer,
referring to the Dolls' album. "I think
Marcie might have a New York Dolls record."
He explains that the site's designer, an Australian
who primarily works with techno artists, created
the site without ever hearing the band. His
template consisted of the band's promotional
photos and lots of hot pink. "It's actually
really funny. Somehow the label found this guy
and he does really cool websites, but he never
does bands," Stollsteimer said. "I'm
sure the guy had no idea who the New York Dolls
are."
But accidental or not, the Von Bondies are more
than just some band riding the tabloid coattails
of scandal to undeserved notoriety. They have
made a wonderful record in Pawn Shoppe Heart
that etches out their own niche in Detroit's
rich rock 'n' roll lineage. "The new record
is the four of us coming together. What you
hear is what we want it to sound like,"
Stollsteimer said.
But don't begrudge Stollsteimer for not knowing
all his music history. He's working on it: "I
was given the Nuggets box set for Christmas
last year, so I've listened to all the garage
stuff now."
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