Pretty in Black

by

The Raveonettes

Edit

It's different than their previous release, much cleaner, but is that good? The first track "The Heavens" is a nice, slow Elvis influenced track with acoustic guitar. I think there is too much reverb on the vocals, but overall a very nice, melodic track. Track 2 is kind of boring, male/female vocal duet type of song, but with slow techno drums that don't work very well. They could have used real drums, or real sounding drums and it would have been a lot better. Nice guitar playing, though. Track 3 "Love in a Trashcan" is a standout track, but again the drums are lacking energy, I don't think it's a drum machine on this track, but I don't like the drums that much. The guitar is good, and the vocals are great.

Track 4 "Sleepwalking" is a 5 star track, it sounds like the band Slowdive but not quite as serious. Great production on this track, I like the drums, they sound real and have a lot of feeling. This is a great track.

Track 5 "Uncertain Times", is another excellent track that sounds like early shoegazer without the feedback, more acoustic and with great melodic surf guitar. I really like the softer vocals by the male vocalist, not many singers can do that and do it well. The vocal harmonies are especially nice on this track. The drums are stiff but they sound like real drums for the most part.

Track 6, the cover of "My Boyfriend's Back", is very good, and the vocals sound excellent. However, it sounds like they really wanted to stick to the original, and that's great, but why use the krappy drum machine? If they would have used real drums it would be a 5 star track, instead I give it 3 and a half stars.

Track 7, "Here Comes Mary", is one of my favorite tracks on this album. It sounds like "Dream, Dream, Dream" by the Everly Brothers, hopefully they won't get sued. The harmonies are excellent and it's like Slowdive singing the Everly Brothers, very great. The drums are slightly lacking on this track, but it doesn't matter because it works on this track.

Track 8, "Red Tan" is lacking. I wouldn't have put this track right after the previous track because it's very similar and not as good as track 7. I like the surf guitar on this track as well, but it's just a weak song. I still like it though, because it's the Raveonettes and they have a great sound. Just the surf guitar and the harmony vocals are a nice combination even though the song isn't their best.

Track 9, "Twilight" sounds like the band The Dandy Warhols, and thats a good thing. The drums are lacking again on this track, it sounds like a drum machine kind of, not totally. It sounds like the drums the Cure used to use when they actually played the drums through fake drum sounds. I prefer real drums for this kind of music, especially since The Raveonettes have opted for a more sincere 50's/60's style. They are getting mixed up here by putting New Wave drums with 60's garage sounding music. I'm not saying that's bad, but there is too much in the way of weak drums on this album. It worked on their last album because "Chain Gain" wasn't trying to be the real 50's/ 60's thing. It doesn't always work here.

Track 10, "Somewhere in Texas" is excellent, it really works. Classic Raveonettes, great harmonies, nice drums, great feel. It has a Stone Roses drum beat, but somehow captures the early 60's dark ranch/desert cow pasture vibe, Really nice.

Track 11, "You Say You Lie", sounds like early Cure, not the earliest Cure, but early. I like it, but it's kind of boring. Nothing much to say about it. If you like the Cure you might like this track, but

of course the vocals are totally different. It's a 3 star track at most.

Track 12, "Ode to L.A., is one my favorite songs on this disc. The feel just captures the whole late 50's vibe perfectly. They are going for a Beach Boys feel, and it just works great. And I think that is also Ronnie Spector singing lead vocals, that's a nice touch. This is a great quality, 5 star track. A lot of people won't like it because it's not Raveonettes, it's the new Raveonettes sound without all the distortion and feedback. I like that too, but the last album had plenty of that, this is a whole different thing. You may not like it if you're into the Psychocandy type of stuff.

The last track, "If I was young" is a little short, they should have developed it better. It's a really nice track with great guitar. Very mellow, it reminds me of something off Trinity Sessions by the Cowboy Junkies. They really should have went further with it.

Overall, this is great music that needs more of a live drum feel to really get a sincere early rock and roll sound, they also need more development, not in the production, but in the songwriting. They are on a major label so you have to respect the fact that they even sound as good as they do. Major labels never sign stuff like this and if they do on very rare occasion, they will still never promote it. For some reason they have chosen to promote this band and thats a great thing for music. Very Impressive. I hope they do a cover of "Sweetpea" by Tommy Roe on their next CD.

Let it be known: "Pretty in Black" is not the same Raveonettes you know and love.

Sure we have the creepy vocals from Sune Rose Wagner, and the rough retro sound. But after two increasingly catchy albums' worth of music, the Raveonettes have gotten a lot poppier. The trend started in "Chain Gang of Love" peaks here, in a controversial new sound that retains some of the gloomy grandeur, but loses the ragged lo-fi sound.

Acoustics and echoes start it off on a surprisingly soft note, considering that this was the band who turned "tornado rock" into an art form. And Sharin Foo takes lead vocals an ethereal ballad, before shifting back into garage-rock form with "Love in a Trashcan," which sounds like the Velvet Underground's catchier moments.

What follows is a mixture of rough-edged ballads and pop songs, mixed in with the slightly fuzzy rock'n'roll that the Raveonettes have made famous. That bleak sound remains in it, especially when Wagner sets his creepy vocals in the middle of the songs, or when he harmonizes alongside Foo for that androgynous effect.

A cringeworthy moment comes in with the truly awful cover of "My Boyfriend's Back," where Foo sings without a shred of irony, "look out now/cause he's comin' after you!/Hey ya hey ya/my boyfriend's back." Call me a weirdo, but right now I really long for songs about how your sweetie is a little animal and how she always wants to... well, you get the idea.

Anyhow, it's pretty obvious that the Raveonettes have turned a major corner with "Pretty in Black" -- it's catchy and retropoppy, and much of their "tornado-rock" edge has vanished. Instead of distortion pedals and bass, they use more percussion, guitar and some wicked organ,

Taken only by itself, is it a good album? Well, yes. It's not the same as the previous albums by the Raveonettes, but it is an entertaining indie pop album, alternately bleak and catchy, snide and dark. And it's rough, slightly fuzzed rhythms haven't changed too much -- they simply lack the dark distortion, which, ironically, was what attracted many fans to them.

The latter half of the album has some more exotic stylings, like a tambourine and some truly eerie electronic wobbles and wavers. And "Pretty In Black" does differ a lot from the previous two in one way: Sharin Foo lends her pretty, strong vocals to several songs, sometimes solo and sometimes alongside Wagner.

Retro mod-pop -- rather than dark distortion rock -- is the sound of "Pretty in Black," the lightest of the Raveonettes' albums thus far. Entertaining, but if they go any further into the pop wilderness, they may lose their edge altogether. Here's hoping they keep their accessibility, but don't lose that dark, rough edge.