If you haven't heard by now from countless publications, Jack White of those critical darlings The White Stripes recently plead guilty to assault charges for beating the ever loving shit out of Von Bondies lead singer and fellow Detroit rocker Jason Stollsteimer. Why would White do this to a man he once helped in the production of the Bondies debut Lack of Communication' Well I don't know for sure, but I'd guess it would have something to do with the fact that Stollsteimer one-upped White, because Pawn Shoppe Heart is hands-down a better album than White Stripes Elephant. (Now Ryan Slack's gonna assault my ass, I just know it.)

But the fact of the matter is it's true. The sound, the songwriting, the production, it's all better than that overblown opus of White's. Stollsteimer and company have left the garage in exchange for Jerry Harrison's production, but songs like "Tell Me What You See" and the simply tempestuous "Broken Man" show that you can take this band out of the garage, but you can't take the garage out of the band. On "No Regrets," one of the best tracks on the album, Stollsteimer excitably yelps one of the best lines of the year, "No you really haven't lived life yet, if you don't have no regrets." The track "Been Swank" also shows that their sense of humor is fully intact as well, with the song title being clever wordplay on fellow Detroit rockers Soledad Brothers drummer Ben Swank. The Von Bondies even do a great job with taking a page out of another great Detroit group, The Detroit Cobras, by doing a fantastic rock interpretation of the soul classic, Otis Redding's staple "Try a Little Tenderness." If Pawn Shoppe Heart proves anything for the Von Bondies, it's that maybe people should stop and possibly reconsider who really is the best band in the Detroit scene right now.