THE RAVEONETTES

So we’re loading The Raveonettes new album ‘Pretty In Black’ into the CD player, expecting the sleazy surf punk and layers of fuzzy guitar riffs that dominated their 2003 release ‘Chain Gang Of Love’ only to discover that it’s gone. The sound that drew comparisons to The Jesus and Mary Chain is nowhere to be found.
What we’re left with is a lush pop record that captures Californian sunsets, Motown doo- wop groups, Twangy guitars and Americana, weaving it into one dreamy and twisted universe all it’s own.

“Well, we got to the point where we weren’t so inspired by the minimalist approach of the first two albums where we working with guidelines within the songwriting and the production.” Explains Nordic rock goddess and Raveonettes vocalist Sharin Foo. “It always seems to be that when we make an album that it’s a moment in time and at the time, this is what came out. It was fun for us to do a production that was bigger and more organic. We wanted to do something more diverse and because this album is so diverse it kinda frees it up to go in any direction without people getting too shocked. It’s kinda liberating.”

Hailing from Copenhagen, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo made their presence known as part of the new garage rock scene in 2002. Using three chords and the ‘nothing over three minutes’ Pop philosophy, Wagner and Foo melded Sixties surfer harmonies with noise and guitars Thurston Moore would be proud of. After a spate of shows in their home country, The Raveonettes generated a tidal wave of industry buzz.

“It was strange because we were gaining a lot of interest from independent labels from places like England but nobody outside the industry really knew who we were. The first show we did was just outside of Denmark. We set it up ourselves. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to be a band that was able to play in all the music capitals of the world which led us to New York.”
Their arrival in New York led to shows at the infamous CBGB, birthplace of Talking Heads, Blondie and The Ramones. While CBGB now struggles to keep its doors open (it’s rumored the venue will be turned into a homeless shelter and the CBGB name be franchised), the chance to play at such a cornerstone of American music history must have been inspiring.

“It was fun for us to play there but honestly…they just haven’t taken good enough care of their reputation. It’s all about the Joey Ramone shrine and Japanese tourists…not that there’s anything wrong with that. There just wasn’t the integrity or the creative vibe that I’m sure that they had at one time. Obviously it’s sad cause it’s historical but you need but you need to stay on it…keep things exciting and engaging.”
It was at CBGB where they captured the attention of producer Richard Gottehrer (Blondie, Joan Armatrading, The Go-Go’s) and Dave Fricke (Rolling Stone writer). This eventually led to a deal with Columbia and the creation of ‘Pretty In Black’.

Recorded in Shokan, New York, just outside Woodstock, the album has a distinctly different dynamic to the past two albums as it was mostly recorded live with a band.
“We’d go in and play a new song for the drummer and the bass player then we’d rehearse it on the spot and record it. It was very much like the old way of working like you would have done it in the Motown days or the days of The Bill building. You bring your band in, show them how it goes, then go one, two three, four.”
The record also features special guests Martin Rev (Suicide), Moe Tucker (Velvet Underground) and Sixties Pop legend Ronnie Spector. “She’s a very wonderfully warm and very musical person. You can definitely feel that she’s been through difficult times. It was flattering to hear her sing a Raveonettes tune….she was doing her trademark woa woa woa’s. It was inspiring.”

The record also embraces a wider scope of influences, much more so than the past releases. “We’re obviously inspired by lots of music from the 50’s like Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valence, lots of the early girl groups from the early Sixties like The Shangri-La’s and The Marvellettes but we always strive to try and reinterpret the sound. The basic songwriting style for those groups is quite innocent and nostalgic and we try and create tension between the present and the future using different lyrical content that you wouldn’t hear back then. In the same way that Tim Burton manages to create his own kinda world, we try to make our own world, which draws from our knowledge of the history of Rock & Roll. We were DJing the other night and we play everything from Ramones, Sonic Youth, Can and punky stuff all the way through to Le Tigre, Miss Kitten and Peaches. At the moment Sune is into his Tchaikovsky period and classical music and I listen to lots of jazz. It’s really a lot of different stuff. ”

After gaining rave reviews for the album, playing to crowds of up to 90,000 people at Denmark’s Roskilde festival, test driving BMW’s for Rolling Stone, rocking out with The White Stripes, gaining a top ten single in the UK with ’Love In A Trashcan’ and contributing a track to the Sixties drive-in inspired Playstation game ‘Stubbs The Zombie, The Raveonettes seem poised for global domination. Any chance we’d be able to control Sune and Sharin in their very own game (ala 50 Cent and Xzibit) sometime in the future?
“Well, it’ wouldn’t be so difficult as our music is very visual and cinematic. I guess they’d have to be lots of opposites…an element of romance. It’d definitely be some seedy, divey nightlife experience in a Film Noir setting…with a bit of Rock and Roll.”
Kind of like The Raveonettes themselves really.