When garage rock mania returned to Detroit earlier this decade, the Von Bondies’ loose, assaultive sound easily earned them a place in the renaissance. Not that the bands in the first wave of Detroit rock did anything to shape the approach of Michigan-bred Von Bondies architect Jason Stollsteimer.

“I never owned a Stooges or MC5 record in my life, until after we played with the Stooges,” he says.

But he didn’t complain when the retro rewind helped him get a deal with Sire Records, which released the well-received Pawn Shoppe Heart in 2004.

“It’s better to be part of something than nothing,” Stollsteimer says. “We didn’t try to be part of anything; we tried to distance ourselves as soon as we could.”

Distance for the last three years has meant a complete hiatus from music-making. Stollsteimer didn’t just take a break from performing; he stopped playing music altogether. Stollsteimer was simply exhausted in the wake of the success of Pawn Shoppe Heart, a juggernaut that took the Von Bondies around the world. And lifestyle decisions that had little to do with music didn’t pan out.

He “got married and all that crap.” Domestic bliss was anything but. He also saw a near-complete turnover in the Von Bondies lineup.

“I needed a new energy,” Stollsteimer says. “What was there was not going well. I was still excited, but everyone needs to be excited.”

Only drummer Don Blum remains. Together, the two hashed out enough new nervy material to stock a couple EPs and a full-length. The long-player, Love, Hate and Then There’s You, has already been recorded, but Stollsteimer doesn’t expect to release it until summer. Instead he’s selling the EPs at shows and breaking in new material slowly.

“No one’s buying records anymore,” he says. “The best thing to do is to get out as much of your best music as possible over a time period instead of putting it all out at once.”