I just picked up the Raveonettes' latest disk, Raven In The Grave. Two words: love it! Of course, I'm not surprised. I had heard about half of the songs on WRUW over the past month or so and really enjoyed them.
If I were still doing music reviews, I would rate this an A+. To me, it's simply a great album. Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of songs with distorted guitars and dreamy, hard-to-decipher lyrics, all mixed together in a wash of sound. In other words, the shoegazer genre; Lush was my favorite band from the 90s.
But this is no exercise in "nu gaze" music-by-the-numbers. I immediately was struck by the musical, lyrical, thematic, and sonic range across Raven's nine tracks
Do you want fuzzy guitars and a driving beat? The album leads off with "Recharge & Revolt," an anthem to fighting (literally) for your love. As an aside, I have to admit that when I initially heard the tune's opening power chord, my musician's ear flashed back to the Raveonettes' 2003 release, Chain Gang Of Love, which bears the cover note "Recorded In Bb Major." And they weren't kidding...it's all in Bb. I'm happy to report that even though this disk has its fair share of songs in that key, they do use other chords as well. :)
Do you want tender? How about "Forget That You're Young," which breaks down a relationship, start to end, using a string of simple monosyllabic verbs:
Do you want to drift off and dream? Then cue up "My Time's Up," the best sleepy-time song this side of Julee Cruise.
My personal favorite tracks are "Apparitions," with its hollow, nearly amelodic vocal, the lyrically spartan "War In Heaven" (which I would bet money started life as a work of poetry), and the aforementioned "Forget That You're Young." The latter is one of those songs that I could listen to, then hit the << button and listen to again. Who am I kidding? That's what I do.
In conclusion, two more words: buy it. Or "download it," since as I write this, Amazon is offering the MP3 for half price, which includes a bonus track.
Do you want fuzzy guitars and a driving beat? The album leads off with "Recharge & Revolt," an anthem to fighting (literally) for your love. As an aside, I have to admit that when I initially heard the tune's opening power chord, my musician's ear flashed back to the Raveonettes' 2003 release, Chain Gang Of Love, which bears the cover note "Recorded In Bb Major." And they weren't kidding...it's all in Bb. I'm happy to report that even though this disk has its fair share of songs in that key, they do use other chords as well. :)
Do you want tender? How about "Forget That You're Young," which breaks down a relationship, start to end, using a string of simple monosyllabic verbs:
And I see
chase
meet
get
hold
kiss
need
please
hurt
scare
leave
miss you, and I forget that you're young.
Do you want to drift off and dream? Then cue up "My Time's Up," the best sleepy-time song this side of Julee Cruise.
My personal favorite tracks are "Apparitions," with its hollow, nearly amelodic vocal, the lyrically spartan "War In Heaven" (which I would bet money started life as a work of poetry), and the aforementioned "Forget That You're Young." The latter is one of those songs that I could listen to, then hit the << button and listen to again. Who am I kidding? That's what I do.
In conclusion, two more words: buy it. Or "download it," since as I write this, Amazon is offering the MP3 for half price, which includes a bonus track.
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