The Von Bondies
Lack of Communication

Distributed by
Sympathy For The Record Industry

Year: 2001

Rating: 8/10

Cat. No: SFTRI 658

With Detroit fast becoming the new Seattle in the wake of the media frenzy surrounding The White Stripes, the time could not be better for the likes of the Von Bondies and fellow city dwellers such as The Come Ons, The Dirt Bombs and the Soledad Brothers.

Something is stirring in the heart of the Motor City and for once it does not involve techno or hip-hop, the city's two biggest musical exports in recent years (think Eminem, Kid Rock, Kevin Saunderson). Instead, the city's latest crop of outlaws go back to the late Sixties for their inspiration, to the likes of the MC5 and The Stooges whose raw, unadulterated blues provide the perfect blueprint for the scuzzy amphetamine-fuelled sound that has become a trademark of bands on the consistently excellent Sympathy For the Record Industry label.

So, can The Von Bondies deliver in the wake of The White Stripes and the equally exciting New York-based The Strokes? Well, yes they can and they sure-as-Hell do. With Jack White on production duties, Lack Of Communication has all the hallmarks of a garage rock classic.

Opening with the title track, the band come on like a harder, heavier version of their more famous compatriots and over the course of the next 40 minutes produce a tour-de-force of suzzy, uncompromising urban rock.

With the current American "rock" industry comprising on the one hand of no-brained, meathead nu-metal (Limp Bizkit, Blink 182 et al) and on the other, cod-shock/mock-goth rock (Mansun, Slipknot etc), it's genuinely exciting to hear bands like The Von Bondies come through on the outside.

For this is where such music thrives - on the outside. Lack of Communication is a glorious fingers up to what currently passes as US alternative rock. It's filled with fun and fuelled by fire. Four young kids making a racket - taking a teenage kick against the corporate pricks. Go on - Von Bond them to your heart!

Review copyright © Gary Thorogood, 2001.