The Raveonettes of the past were overwhelmingly cheerful, regardless of their song content. On their last album alone, there were songs called “Last Dance,” “Suicide,” “Gone Forever” and “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed).” From the titles and lyrics, these songs sound awfully depressing, but they are transformed by the talented duo into pop masterpieces with buoyant choruses and knowing lyrics that wed melancholy and euphoria like a lyrical teenager’s diary.
The band’s new LP, Raven in the Grave, keeps the melancholy but does away with the euphoria, presenting a more sober, somber, at times outright depressing outlook on life. The themes are the same: heartbreak, death, young lovers enduring catastrophe etc., but the hooks are dialed down, and there aren’t as many tracks to dance to.
The song that most perfectly captures the new ethos is “Summer Moon.” Over a distorted piano crawl, Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo sing a duet about the fate of young lovers who meet happily and … well, the key rhyme in the song is composed of “crying” and “dying,” so it’s pretty easy to imagine what happens to the young lovers.
Album closer “My Time’s Up” is similarly slow and – as you may have guessed from the title – similarly depressing, as the two singers muse about everyone’s death, including theirs. The song is lovely, sad and single-minded, with plenty of airy guitar solos jam-packed into its second half.
“Evil Seeds” is no less harrowing but adds some heavy rock flair, with big drums and bigger guitar chords powering a song about betrayal that Moz fans could easily jam out to at an arena concert. “When I’m gone, like a raven in the grave, young lovers shriveled, spring from these evil seeds,” sings Wagner, reminding us of the most graphic images from Charles Burns’ “Black Hole.”
The most danceable track, “Ignite,” best imitates the more uplifting sound of previous albums, and it’s a bit of a relief to find something non-sepulchral, although lyrics about exploding hearts are still present. The chorus is catchy, with handclaps and an attitude that remains authoritative even in the midst of despair.
Despite the repetitive tenebrosity of the lyrics, The Raveonettes demonstrate throughout the album that, whatever their hang-ups, they can still write powerful songs. They do a great job with the simple “Let Me On Out,” which documents the travails of a couple that doesn’t communicate well. Wagner wails “how we loved, how we tried and how we fell apart” with real power, while Foo’s backing vocals drone on, as if she’s not understanding a thing that he says.
The band is frequently compared to The Jesus and Mary Chain – something to do with sweet pop vocals over heavy rock distortion – but on Raven they sound equally like navel-gazing Canadian rock outfit Stars. Gloomy pontificating plus sweet voices plus noise pop has been a recipe for success before, and Wagner and Foo milk the formula for all it’s worth here.
As any music fan knows, there are records for when you’re sad and records for when you’re happy. With Raven in the Grave, The Raveonettes have made an excellent record for when you’re depressed, angsty, melancholy or sad and one that would be nearly impossible to listen to when you’re happy.
3.5 out of 5 stars
