Confession time. I did, indeed, once declare Detroit’s Von Bondies “the greatest rock’n’roll band on the planet” in Uncut, but back in the summer of 2002 that seemed more than feasible. In the context of this, their second album proper and first since signing to Warners, such enthusiasm seems outrageous. Nevertheless, Pawn Shoppe Heart is a step in the right direction. Where on 2001’s Lack Of Communication their cranked-up Stoogeisms were adorably desperate, here they’re glibly glamorous, energised by a Pixies-like concision (weirdly enough, “Not That Social” really sounds like The Breeders, too). I may be proved right yet!
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