Genre: Rock Year: 2003 Country: Denmark Official Site: The Raveonettes Details: Tracks & Audio Label: Columbia Records
The raveonettes are Sharin Foo (Bassist, vocalist), and Sune Rose Wagner (guitarist, vocalist), a duo from Denmark who prefer to wear black and white, and who apparently are not related to each other. Sharin is a tall, Caucasian blonde with a multinational background who because of her looks immediately recalls Nico. Sune, after a trip to the US and bored with the general state of music, decided to form a band to paid tribute to all of his heroes.
So, taking influences ranging from classics like Buddy Holly or Beach boys and modern innovators like Sonic Youth or The Jesus and Mary Chain, the first Raveonettes record, the EP Whip it on, was a very homogeneous collection of at times too similar songs, perhaps because of the limitations the duet self imposed. No hi-hat or cymbals, all songs in the same chord (b minor), no more than 3 chords per song, and no more than 3 minutes per song is the dogma created as a reaction to the overproduced mainstream music. To set their music free from its unnecessary parts is the noble purpose, to surpass formal limitations through creativity is the challenge that the duo tries to accomplish.
Not too different in the rules they follow (change the chord from b minor to b major), their first LP and, at the same time, their major label debut find The Raveonettes still absorbing not only musical but film and literary influences as well, like Barry Gifford, David Lynch, the Beat generation and hundreds of road movies. Maybe that's the reason why Chain Gang of Love is one of those albums that have the ability of capturing you at first; everything seems to have its place in this collection of love and adventure songs very appropriate for a nocturnal trip through the roads of the deep America, faraway and lonely motel rooms and strange places and people.
Thus, as a smooth departure, the opener "Remember" is a very dreamy, idyllic tune where the two voices fuse together smoothly reaching an endurable feeling of intimacy over a guitar reminiscent of the Velvet Underground's most tranquil moments. In the same mood comes "Love Can Destroy Everything", a nocturnal and delirious ballad which made me remember of an interesting theory explored by Bertolluci in The Last Tango in Paris. These slow, more relaxed moments of the album are sometimes so reminiscent of The Jesus and Mary Chain, that the first notes of "Little Animal" are almost the same as the ones on "Just like Honey"; luckily the song turns into a veiled tale of perversion where the sudden guitar explosions that fill the whole album seem to flow in a very natural way.
In this journey you get hardly ever lost, as long as you have good company: "That great love sound" is a very exciting tune, greatly appropriate for an escape sequence; a crushing wave of fuzzy guitar runs across the rockabilly rhythm of "Noisy Summer"; and "Lets rave on", the shortest song of the whole album, is an urgent adolescent anthem and a personal favorite of mine together with the captivating "Heartbreak stroll", in which the catchy beats and guitar are an everlasting invitation to surf the night. "Untamed girls" is another great moment filled with confidence and nostalgia.
However, at least this time, enlightenment has its price and when the duo tries to conciliate the electronic drone with the classic rock and roll elements the results can be dull: on "The Truth about Johnny" and "The love gang" the components don't fit in adequately, the machine drum is an excessively artificial element which undermines the warm feeling that fortunately fills most of the album.
But you can arrive to the destination, wherever it is, and the good feeling can last to the end, and even a long time after only if you forget the fact that the band doesn't manage or doesn't care to detach themselves enough from their influences. Perhaps they would care if they knew that The Jesus and Mary chain is sometimes like a shadow over them. You have to remember that is not only important to have parents, it is important to leave home as well to be able to have a whole life of your own.
The Raveonettes Chain Gang of Love
