Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Dead Sound


Photo by Frank Yang

Curious thing about The Raveonettes. Though they’re largely defined by their aesthetic – Spector-meet-Everly Brothers pop songs wrapped in JAMC fuzz – the further away they move from that, the more I like them. For example, I found their live show last October rather tedious, partly because I was unfamiliar with the material and partly because my misfortune to be standing right in front of Sune Rose Wagner’s guitar amp made the white noise even whiter. And yet after hearing their latest album Lust Lust Lust, I found much to like since the balance between noise and melody was much better controlled and their pop sense and the vocal interplay between Wagner and Sharin Foo was in clearer focus.

And so it figures that their in-store at Sonic Boom yesterday evening, in advance of their proper show at the Opera House, would leave me with the most favourable impression of the band yet. With nary a distortion pedal in sight and the only feedback coming from the PA, Wagner and Foo put on a show that really emphasized how tight and sweet their vocals are together, as well as how simple and effective their songwriting is. Some of the material took on an unexpected doom-folk dimension when played on the acoustic guitars that could well be a direction worth investigating for the band. Before they began, Wagner said they’d never done something like this before – I definitely think they should do it again.

AOL Music Canada has rounded up a number of featurettes and interviews with the band.

Photos: The Raveonettes @ Sonic Boom – March 21, 2008
MP3: The Raveonettes – “Dead Sound”
MP3: The Raveonettes – “Aly, Walk With Me”
Video: The Raveonettes – “Dead Sound”
Video: The Raveonettes – “You Want The Candy”
Video: The Raveonettes – “Aly, Walk With Me”

Marissa Nadler returns to Toronto on June 23 for a show at the El Mocambo. Full tour dates at Pitchfork.

NPR has a session and interview with Tift Merritt available to listen to. Merritt is in town on April 1 for a show at the El Mocambo.

The Boston Herald talks to the Drive-By Truckers.

By : Frank Yang at 2:14 pm
Category: Uncategorized
RSS Feed for this post2 Responses.

  1. 3/23/08 12:28 am

     Mel says:

    Great photos. I was there too and thought it was really good, especially since I’m not terribly familiar with their music.

  2. 3/23/08 4:41 am

     Jessica says:

    Hello, am new out there. It’s great to discover new songs from artist i did not know before…

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