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Album Review

The Raveonettes
In and Out of Control Fierce Panda / Vice Records

Article written by Peter W - Nov 19, 2009

Usually three songs into a Raveonettes record, you can pretty much bet your wages, your house and a few vital organs on what the remaining eight or so tracks have in store; everything from the guitar sound, lyrical theme, drum pattern, and the artists they’ll pilfer from. While they’ve undoubtedly produced some terrific music (especially on the last LP), each concept being mercilessly stretched over an entire album can leave your enthusiasm waning long before the finishing line. This time things are different.

Initially however, it’s Raves-by-numbers: opener ‘Bang!’ is the type of fuzzy guitar pop tune the band revel in. With a splash of stolen guitar courtesy of the Crystals, it bounces along very nicely. Next up though is ‘Gone Forever’ which takes an age to emerge from a wall-of-feedback and then proceeds to cover ground that’s just way too familiar, and once the painful, glossy pop chirping of ‘Last Dance’ draws to a rather irritating close, the signs aren’t good. Granted, the album’s only ten minutes old but the nagging thought that the band has run dry of ideas is growing ever more vociferous.

However, if one were to glance at the LP’s tracklisting then the next song should, at the very least, hint towards a change of tone. ‘Boys who Rape (should all be destroyed)’ arrives on a wave of distorted keyboards and immediately jolts the album back into life...and then Sharin Foo delivers lyrics with the most incongruously sweet and innocent-sounding voice she can muster, ensuring lines such as “those fuckers stay in your head” are rendered as unsettling as audibly possible. Both a musical and lyrical departure, it’s like someone hiring Ladytron to soundtrack a Valerie Solanas treatise. It’s not going to be to everyone’s taste but it undeniably frees the album from any sense of predictability. While there’s no further S.C.U.M manifesto sing-a-longs, darker themes continue to be explored, with the keyboards thankfully making repeat visits also.

The guitars are never put away for long though, and with ‘Suicide’ and ‘Heart of Stone’ it seems the aforementioned synth injection has even had a revitalising effect on the band’s traditional set-up. The latter especially fizzles with energy; a cracking little tune that shamelessly (and wonderfully) pinches the riff from The Yardbirds’ ‘Heart Full of Soul’. These sit comfortably alongside tracks like ‘D.R.U.G.S’ - a camp, 80s-style electro stomper.

The production is not as lush or dominating as the previous album and this allows for any change of direction to proceed more easily, so while the lead instrument may switch suddenly from one track to the next there remains a sense of coherence, regardless of what the album title suggests. Their strongest and most rewarding work to date.

Links:
http://www.theraveonettes.com
http://www.myspace.com/theraveonettes