Reconnecting With The Raveonettes

By Veronica Murtagh in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 27, 2009 9:00PM

The Raveonettes fourth full length album, the recently released In and Out of Control, finds the Danish duo losing their footing and succumbing to the allure of pop rock. It's easily their most hook-heavy and accessible release, but for those of us who've followed Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner for years, it's a release that has us reminiscing the good times of B-movie surf rock and grimy, loud distortion. Joined by The Black Angels at the Metro Sunday night, The Raveonettes proved that a new direction for their recorded material does not equal a disconnect with their earlier work.

We couldn't dream up a better opener and tourmate for The Raveonettes than Austin psych garage outfit, The Black Angels. Black Angels fans packed the Metro as the band threatened to steal the show before the headliner would even have a chance to perform. Tribal drums thudded amongst filtered, hippie vocal echoes and squealing guitar. The Black Angels had as much energy as they had fans, and their garage influences provided a fitting segue to the fuzzy distortion that would fill The Raveonettes' set.

It took just one riff of set opener, Gone Forever, for The Raveonettes to make up for the flatness of In and Out of Control. From behind blinding white strobes so intense they pulsed behind shut eyes, Sharin Foo emerged an icy princess soaring above a wall of crashing noise. Throughout the night the theme of suspended disbelief continued, from Last Dance, to Break Up Girls! and Suicide, every track The Raveonettes tackled off their newest release took on the depth the recording lacked. Even our least favorite track of The Raveonettes' career, Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed), was transformed into a memorable, and likable number.

Foo's quiet, aloof sexiness dominated the stage as she tenderly crouched over knobs and grinded her distortion pedals through the floor with a satin heel and an untouchably cool demeanor. Sune Rose Wagner stood characteristically awkward at Foo's side throughout the evening, awaiting his moments to shine. His sweet, shyly androgynous voice often lies in Foo's shadow, but his performance during Heart Of Stone proved to any doubters in the audience that The Raveonettes are not a Sharin Foo solo project.

As we had hoped, the duo mixed in plenty of tracks from their earlier releases. Standouts included Little Animal and set closer, Aly Walk With Me. The Raveonettes' ability to translate their newer, poppier material onstage in a manner that blended seamlessly into the dark fuzz of their pre-In and Out of Control selections proved them agile performers and seasoned musicians.

In the timespan of a single set, The Raveonettes re-won our hearts, burying us in noise, freezing us in icy pop and then melting the entire mess with a beacon of white light that beamed from darkness.