Albums: Alternative Times, Volume 46, Pawn Shoppe Heart, Lack of Communication

The Von Bondies are an American alternative rock band. The current members are Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar, Leann Banks on bass guitar and Don Blum on drums. The original line-up formed at the 1997 Cramps/Guitar Wolf show by Stollsteimer and Marcie Bolen[1].

They went through a variety of names, including The Baby Killers. They also had many member changes before settling on the band name The Von Bondies in 2000. Blum joined the band around 1999 after attending numerous Baby Killers shows, while Leann Banks was picked via an audition.

The Von Bondies got their break by playing a New Years Eve show in Detroit, Michigan in 2000. In attendance at the show was Long Gone John, owner of the Sympathy for the Record Industry label. This led to Sympathy releasing the band's debut album Lack of Communication in 2001.

In March 2004, the band released their sophomore album and major label debut Pawn Shoppe Heart on Sire records. The album reached a peak of #36 in the UK and #8 on Billboards Top Heatseekers chart and stayed in the chart for eight weeks[2]. The Von Bondies have completed 6 headlining tours of the United Kingdom/Europe, two of Australia, and ten of the United States.

For those tours the band brought along opening acts such as The Kills, Kasabian, Franz Ferdinand, Modey Lemon, SSM, The Subways, The Stills, and The Donnas[3]. They have also appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Last Call with Carson Daly and CD:UK[4]. The Von Bondies released Raw and Rare, a live album, through Dimmak Records in 2003.

They released Pawn Shoppe Heart through Sire Records in February 2004 to positive reviews. It was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and co-produced by Jason Stollsteimer. They released the song "Cmon Cmon" as their first single and the song shot to popularity in summer 2004.

A shortened version of "C'mon C'mon" is the theme song to the TV series Rescue Me and is performed live by the band in Michael Winterbottom's film 9 Songs. In 2008, the band signed with indie label Majordomo Records, joining label mates The Airborne Toxic Event and Earlimart. Their label debut, Love, Hate And Then There's You, was released in February 2009

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