With the recent influx and increasing hype of fuzz-caked, femme-fronted garage pop (Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast, etc.), it’s easy to forget that bands like The Raveonettes have already been taking that sound in several different directions for the past ten years. They started working with ‘My Boyfriend’s Back‘ songwriter Richard Gottehrer on 2003’s ‘Chain Gang Of Love‘, had Ronnie Spector herself provide guest vocals on 2005’s ‘Pretty In Black‘, and pushed the dreamy surf rock shtick to ear-splitting levels with the wall of noise that was 2007’s ‘Lust, Lust, Lust‘. A decade after their inception, it’s interesting to see a band that has always worn its influences on its sleeves slowly become a badge of honour in their own right for a new crop of young up-and-comers.
The transition to elder statesman would suit their effortless cool just fine, except for the fact that the Danish duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo hasn’t quite finished carving out their niche as one of this generation’s harbingers of hip.
Their latest shift in style surfaced with this year’s 80’s goth-infused ‘Raven In The Grave‘, and since then the two have set out across the country to display their newfound debt to dreary bleakness and black eyeliner. In Los Angeles last Thursday for the first of a two night stand at the Troubadour, The Raveonettes wasted no time cementing their status as surveyors of chic.
The statuesque Foo was clad entirely in black, save for a speckle of white polka-dots across her blouse, and the lanky Wagner wore an oversized shirt emblazoned with the face of either Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna or perhaps even a bizarre combination of the three. This time around they also arrived with help; bringing along two nearly identical male multi-instrumentalists to lend some weight to their washed-out reveries.
The weight worked well right from the start, with the two extras on guitar, Foo on bass, and Wagner holding only the microphone for opener ‘Recharge & Revolt‘. The instruments shifted around (along with some pre-recorded drum/keyboard tracks) for the synthed-out ‘War In Heaven‘ and the hollow demon-gospel ballad of ‘Let Me On Out‘.
They then settled into what proved to be the strongest arrangement of the evening, as Foo stayed on bass, Wagner hung his guitar low around his knees, and their henchmen each hunched over a separate set of drums.
The first three songs may have carried the doom and gloom of the new record, but it was the next three that displayed the garage group swagger that has defined The Raveonettes’ career.
‘Dead Sound‘ had a whispering lullaby and Beach Boy Bounce, but was drenched in so much reverb that even the duelling snares were delivered in a series of muddy thwacks. ‘Noisy Summer‘ was a classic male-female doo-wop harmony twisted in a screech of guitar, while ‘Love In A Trashcan‘ jumped out as vintage 60’s rocker with a killer groove. Each of these songs came with an extra level of energy, not to mention a hypnotic flash from the epileptic light show in the background.
Although half of the setlist was dedicated to showcasing new material, Wagner and Foo did manage to sprinkle in a good amount of classics. ‘My Tornado‘ and ‘Attack Of The Ghost Riders‘ were played back-to-back, each carrying the bad-ass biker strut of their debut EP ‘Whip It On’. Then came the slick guitar line of ‘Heart Of Stone‘, which was the only mention of 2009’s ‘In & Out Of Control‘. They finished with the eulogy-meets-bedtime-story singsong of ‘My Time’s Up‘, only to return for a two-song encore.
For the last of those two songs, Foo traded one of the helpers bass for guitar before they broke in with a compelling performance of ‘Aly, Walk With Me‘, the incredible opening track of ‘Lust, Lust, Lust’. The rolling bassline, scathing distortion, and sultry repetition created a calculated creepiness that was so seductive and dangerous, it just further confirmed that – while their heirs may be apparent – The Raveonettes still remain a step ahead of the rest.
(Beau De Lang)
