The Raveonettes are an indie rock/Noise Pop duo from Denmark, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo. The two met in 2001 through mutual friends in Copenhagen, and formed the band soon after. They released their first EP the following year, and their first full length album the year after that.
Their sound is influenced by bands such as The Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain, and is distinguished by their close two-part harmonies, hard-edged electric guitar and an overlay of distortion and noise. They have always done well in Denmark, their albums almost always reaching a Top 10 position in the national charts, but have found true success elsewhere hard to come by, and have never broken into the Top 100 in the US.
The Raveonettes discography:
Studio Albums- Chain Gang of Love (2003)
- Pretty In Black (2005)
- Lust Lust Lust (2007)
- In and Out of Control (2009)
- Raven in the Grave (2011)
- Observator (2012)
- Pe'ahi (2014)
- 2016 Atomized (2017)
EPs
- Whip It On (2002)
- Sometimes They Drop By (2008)
- Beauty Dies (2008)
- Wishing You a Rave Christmas (2008)
- Into the Night (2012)
- The End (2015)
Compilations
- Rarities/B-Sides (2011)
The Raveonettes show examples of:
- Hippie Parents: Sharin was raised on a hippy commune in Djursland, Denmark.
- It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: The inclusion of 3D glasses with Lust Lust Lust must have seemed like a fun gimmick at the time, but unfortunately it rendered the album ineligible for the UK Albums Chart. None of their albums since have charted in the UK at all.
- Lead Bassist: Sharin Foo is a Type B Lead Bassist, forming a Vocal Tag Team with Sune Rose Wagner.
- Statuesque Stunner: Sharin Foo is 6' tall, with almost stereotypical Scandinavian good looks.
- Vocal Tag Team: Sune and Sharin share the vocals on most songs, usually by way of a two-part harmony.
- Arc Words: Although their first album Chain Gang of Love contains a song by the same name, those lyrics were first used in "Veronica Fever" on their earlier EP Whip It On."Explosive smell when black leather comes to you,
Beating that ass with the Chain Gang Of Love." - Compilation Re-release: 2016 Atomized wasn't written as an album; instead it is a collection of songs from the band's Rave-Sound-Of-The-Month project, where they wrote and released a new song each month throughout 2016.
- Christmas Songs: In 2008 the band released an EP of 4 Christmas songs, although oddly their single "The Christmas Song", released in 2003, was not included on the EP.
- The Last Dance: "Last Dance" is about someone in love with a drug addict, who fears every time they overdose that it's going to be the last time, so urging them to hold on at least until the singer gets to them in intensive care.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Several of their songs are deceptively chipper with rather downbeat lyrics, although the song titles normally give the game away. In and Out of Control tends to display this more than their other albums. Examples include:
- "Bang!" – domestic violence
- "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)" – gang rape
- "D.R.U.G.S." – hard drug use
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)" from In and Out of Control picks out rape as a particularly heinous crime.
- Super-Fun Happy Thing of Doom: The eponymous "Chain Gang of Love".
