It seems like great new music is rare these days.
All we ever hear on the radio anymore is a sounds-like-every-other-band band that suddenly got really popular and, thus, really terrible.
Wouldn’t it be nice if a really great duo from Denmark released a new album that was just so fantastic and so not-like-every-other-band that you just had to listen to it?
Well, lucky you.
You needn’t look any further.
The Raveonettes is one such band, and the group recently released its third full-length album, entitled Lust Lust Lust.
The band gets its name from two of its major musical influences: The Ronettes and Buddy Holly (one of his last great hits was “Rave On!”). The Ronettes + “Rave On!” = you get the picture.
Lust Lust Lust was released in the U.S. on Feb. 19 of this year, after coming out last November in the U.K. The U.S. album version also has two bonus tracks for your aural pleasure.
Lust Lust Lust contains tracks about—you guessed it—lust lust lust, love and sex. The synth-heavy, dream-like album takes you through the spectra of emotions that we often experience due to love and relationships.
The two band members, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo, used very few instruments in this particular album.
Guitar, synth, vocals, drums and bass were just about the only instruments the duo used to write their songs.
Considering The Raveonettes recorded the entirety of Whip It On! in the key of B-flat minor and Chain Gang of Love in B-flat major, it seems less and less as though Lust Lust Lust was restricted in sound and more and more as though they had all of the resources in the world at their feet when recording.
It’s not infrequent that we see artists restricting their own creative scope. It allows an artist to be challenged in creating something that is still enjoyable.
My hat’s off to The Raveonettes.
The best track on the album by far is, in my opinion, “Dead Sound.” Musically, it is superbly upbeat, but lyrically, it is actually quite sad.
The vocals in the song, however, are so captivating that I almost didn’t notice how sad the song really is until about the fifth time through.
The romantic, entrancing vocals are not limited to “Dead Sound” only; every song utilizes the same dreamy vocals, but they are altered in such a way that compliments the lyrics and story behind each different song.
A few other memorable songs on the album include “Aly, Walk With Me,” “You Want The Candy,” and “With My Eyes Closed.”
The only downfall to this album is that as I can see many people feeling as though all of the songs sound a little bit too similar.
While I can absolutely see why that would be a complaint for some, the music is simply so engrossing that I find myself picking out the differences among every song and guessing what the two band members were thinking and feeling when they wrote it.
The Raveonettes will absolutely not be liked by all; it may start to sound too much like itself for some.
But for those who have been intrigued or inspired by this review, I cannot encourage you enough to go out and buy it.
Who knows, it just might be that not-like-every-other-band sound that you’ve been searching for.