"Lust Lust Lust," the newest album by the Raveonettes, stays true to the "noise pop" genre but provides the listener with a complex sound and enough emotion-filled static to make your speakers cry.
The Danish pop pair, Sharin Foo (on bass and vocals) and Sune Rose Wagner (on guitar, instruments and vocals), seems to borrow its chord structure from the likes of Buddy Holly. The band's '50s and '60s rock sound is entertaining - it's simple and head-boppingly happy, with the right amount of distortion - but it's also interestingly disturbing.
The Raveonettes' first album, "Chain Gang of Love" (2003), was produced by none other than Richard Gottenhrer, who produced greats such as Blondie, the Go-Gos and Richard Hell and the Voidoids. "Chain Gang of Love" in itself was a consistent album, as all but two of the songs were in the key of B flat major and under three minutes long. The two best-known tracks, "That Great Love Sound" and "Chain Gang of Love," have guitar hooks seemingly transplanted from rock's early days, complete with loud bass lines and a jumpy feeling.
The main difference between "Lust Lust Lust" and the Raveonettes' past work lies in the album's complexity. The band takes risks and dares to use quiet, sparse melody lines that emphasize the sad tone of the lyrics. The constant drumbeat remains, but the two voices have become gentler, blending perfectly into one breathy chord. At times, the harmonies are borderline robotic: "I get so lonesome/ With you/ Or without you" they sing on "Hallucinations," and the voices communicate an eerie, android-like sadness. It's creepy, and it works.
After a quick listen, it soon becomes clear that this album can be divided into two types of songs. The first category includes the repetitive, static-covered jams of "Lust," "Expelled from Love" and "You Want the Candy." To call these "heavy on the feedback" would not do the ear-numbing static justice. The one fault of the distortion is it sometimes becomes overwhelming. In "Aly Walk With Me," the approximately 10 seconds of intense noise that suddenly slides back into the repetitive guitar riff provides the listener with relief rather than pleasure.
Overall, the Raveonettes find their groove within slow, fuzzy drumbeat ballads like "Black Satin" and "The Beat Dies." These songs dip into distortion sparingly and sound honestly sad about - you guessed it - their honesty. "I close my eyes/ To hurt you/ To leave you," the two moan in "With My Eyes Closed." And like the last slow song at your mother's prom, "Sad Transmission" comes complete with handclaps and a beat you could twist and shout to.
The one song that sticks out on "Lust Lust Lust" is "Dead Sound." Maybe it's the clean snare or the way the harsh guitar plays against the voices and then fades out for an electronic-bell keyboard solo that does the trick. Even the usually clean lead guitar uses a little bit of electronic wah-wah to show some true emotion. Whatever tricks the band had up its sleeve in the recording studio, this track succeeds above all others, discussing a past love while daring to show energy: "I hear the sound of falling love/ As I wonder where you are/ Hits the ground with a dead sound / Know you ain't got far." The song is angry, it's resigned and it knows just when to end.
This album is a perfect mid-winter pity party, made for those lonely kids with ripped jeans smoking outside the campus center. With "Chain Gang of Love," the Raveonettes duo proved they could yell; with "Lust Lust Lust," they prove they can whisper, too.
