Album Notes

Pawnshop plays four-square soulful pop-rock from the heart of the East Village, anchored by the big voice and solid songwriting of head Pawnshopper Sean Smith.

Raised through his rebel teens in Newport, Rhode Island (where his young burn-the-bridges punk band Bored Youth is still the stuff of local legend), Sean moved to New York City to chase after a thousand dreams. Pawnshop was one of them. With roots deep in vintage-era Bowie, Clash, Iggy Pop and Jam tunes, the band forges a crisp, punchy style of romping rock that NY Rocker magazine calls "jangly alterna-pop." Works for us.

"Who's to Blame," an uptempo crunchy bass-thumper of a song, was chosen by Napster as a Featured Music Selection in the early days of that program, right alongside music by Chuck D.'s Confrontation Camp and Primitive Radio Gods.

This beautifully-produced record is Pawnshop's debut full-length outing, following four CD tracks on the Downtown NYC genre-crunching "Burner" compilation on Home Office Records (of course). Check your goods at the door, take a ticket, and sing along.