The Von Bondies

The Von Bondies, as a band name, is considerably more commercially viable than their earlier moniker of The Baby Killers, but it’s still the case that we can look back at the Detroit outfit and see them as ranking among the great nearly men of the past decade or so, as far as indie rock is concerned. Over the course of a fourteen year career, they dropped three records to strong critical responses, but although 2004’s sophomore release Pawn Shoppe Heart threatened to be the album that saw them cross over into the indie rock mainstream, it never quite came off for them, leaving them instead to tour relentlessly to a loyal cult fanbase. Although 2009’s final album, Love, Hate and Then There’s You, met with a decidedly commercial response, it had little bearing on the attitude with which the band approached their shows; they veered between sludgy grunge rock, fraught punk that bordered on the gothic, and straightforward rock and roll songs that relied jointly on the raw energy of Jason Stollsteimer and the soothing presence of bassist Leann Banks on backing vocals. They split in 2011, ruling out further live shows, but their last UK tour was a riotous success; it’s worth looking out for the individual members’ next moves.