2008 Woodie Awards
Fall in 'Lust' with The Raveonettes
Dreary, yet cheery vocals with guitar creates harmony
By: Mike Fuksman
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Lifeline
It is said that while The Velvet Underground never went platinum, almost everyone who heard their music started a band.
Predictably, most of those bands weren't very good (and that's putting it politely). But The Raveonettes do a fine job of updating the Velvet's sound on their new release, "Lust, Lust, Lust."
"Lust" is 12 tracks of sleazy, sultry goodness. The Raveonettes manage to blend the Velvets dreary, yet cheery vocals and The Jesus And Mary Chain's buzzing guitars into a cohesive whole.
The band (comprised of duo Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner) do a lot with very little, employing drum machines and utilizing their two voices to create tight vocal harmonies.
The minimalism of their writing is just another tip they've taken from the aforementioned bands.
Uptempo rocker "You Want The Candy" is especially mesmerizing, recalling both the bounciness of '60s pop and the edginess of '70s noise-rock. Sound familiar?
Fuzz-rock gods The Jesus And Mary Chain get their due on noisy tracks "Blitzed" and "Dead Sound." White noise has rarely sounded this pretty.
And The Raveonettes' devotion to the girl groups of the '50s is evident on the tracks "Sad Transmission" and "Hallucinations."
But the 'Nettes do offer an updated take on an old sound. They manage to squeeze in some sampled drum loops and synthy keyboards in between all the guitar fuzz and vocals.
Even if their vocals and guitars have been done more than a million times before, they still keep their sound contemporary enough to reel in listeners who haven't heard of the bands they admire.
Granted, when you're copying the minimalist style of two historic bands, things easily can get repetitive.
"Blitzed" and "Dead Sound" use virtually the exact same drum beat, and The Raveonettes tend to play in the same key ... a lot.
In fact, one of their previous albums ("Chain Gang Of Love") was written almost entirely in B flat major. Maybe we could try a new one for once?
All that being said, "Lust" is a fine record. Again, there are dozens of bands out there trying to cop the Velvet's sound. But not many do it as well as The Raveonettes.
lifeline@cm-life.com
Predictably, most of those bands weren't very good (and that's putting it politely). But The Raveonettes do a fine job of updating the Velvet's sound on their new release, "Lust, Lust, Lust."
"Lust" is 12 tracks of sleazy, sultry goodness. The Raveonettes manage to blend the Velvets dreary, yet cheery vocals and The Jesus And Mary Chain's buzzing guitars into a cohesive whole.
The band (comprised of duo Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner) do a lot with very little, employing drum machines and utilizing their two voices to create tight vocal harmonies.
The minimalism of their writing is just another tip they've taken from the aforementioned bands.
Uptempo rocker "You Want The Candy" is especially mesmerizing, recalling both the bounciness of '60s pop and the edginess of '70s noise-rock. Sound familiar?
Fuzz-rock gods The Jesus And Mary Chain get their due on noisy tracks "Blitzed" and "Dead Sound." White noise has rarely sounded this pretty.
And The Raveonettes' devotion to the girl groups of the '50s is evident on the tracks "Sad Transmission" and "Hallucinations."
But the 'Nettes do offer an updated take on an old sound. They manage to squeeze in some sampled drum loops and synthy keyboards in between all the guitar fuzz and vocals.
Even if their vocals and guitars have been done more than a million times before, they still keep their sound contemporary enough to reel in listeners who haven't heard of the bands they admire.
Granted, when you're copying the minimalist style of two historic bands, things easily can get repetitive.
"Blitzed" and "Dead Sound" use virtually the exact same drum beat, and The Raveonettes tend to play in the same key ... a lot.
In fact, one of their previous albums ("Chain Gang Of Love") was written almost entirely in B flat major. Maybe we could try a new one for once?
All that being said, "Lust" is a fine record. Again, there are dozens of bands out there trying to cop the Velvet's sound. But not many do it as well as The Raveonettes.
lifeline@cm-life.com
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