The Von Bondies: Pawn Shoppe Heart

Reviewed by RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * )

In the wake of the White Stripes, the band's hometown of Detroit has gone into export mode.

Not only do we have the pleasure of a Dirtbombs show at the Kings Arms on Tuesday, there's this, the second studio album from Motor City garage rock quartet The Von Bondies. It's also their major label debut after their Jack White-produced Lack of Communication. White and the band don't see eye-to-eye any more - last month he pleaded guilty to assaulting singer-guitarist Jason Stollsteimer in a Detroit bar.

Here, behind the desk is the seemingly unlikely figure of former Talking Head Jerry Harrison. He's made a pleasingly raucous album, which indicates they're probably a terrific live band.

And they sure do sound in love with the hard-rock legacy of their hometown, especially on the glam-stomp opener of No Regrets, the Iggy and the Stooges-sized swagger on Broken Man and elsewhere.

C'mon C'mon sounds like one of the best songs the Hoodoo Gurus never wrote, and when bassist Carrie Smith takes the microphone for the deadpan fuzzpop of Not That Social, it's sweet respite from Stollsteimer's hollering. The obvious feeling of rock deja vu among the riffs renders a couple of songs less than memorable.

So, no, they're not the next White Stripes. But they still put up a good fight.

(Sire/ Reprise)