The Raveonettes: In and Out of Control (Vice)

There’s a long-standing theory that, due to their geographic
isolation and reduced exposure to sunlight, Scandinavians are more in
touch with their dark and gloomy sides. (See Beowulf,
Hamlet and the grim stories of one Hans Christian Andersen.)

Danish duo The Raveonettes do nothing to debunk this theory with
their latest album: Rape, drug addiction, suicide and teenage runaways
are the subjects of choice.

Grim stuff, but In and Out of Control is mostly saved from
being an exercise in the morose by the band’s trademark marriage of
’60s girl-group song structures and hard-edged, fuzzed-out
instrumentation. Imagine The Chantels singing from a goth girl’s diary,
accompanied by plenty of guitar and tinkling chimes. Don’t listen to
the lyrics closely, and there’s little indication of the darkness that
lurks beneath.

The results are uneven: At times, the juxtaposition between content
and sound is so divergent that it’s just bizarre, such as on “Boys Who
Rape (Should All Be Destroyed),” where the titular line is repeated in
sing-song a cappella, and “D.R.U.G.S,” with its cheerleader-like
chanting. More successful are “Last Dance,” a great dance number that
doubles as a macabre love note to a frequently overdosing lover, and
“Breaking Into Cars,” a solid fuzz-pop number.

Lust Lust Lust, the band’s terrific last record, focused on
hedonism, consequences be damned. Now, The Raveonettes are talking
about the fallout of indulging in bad love, bad drugs and bad
situations, and that’s just not as fun.

This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2009.