The Raveonettes at Oxford Art Factory

Last week I reviewed The Raveonettes in Sydney for Drum Media:THE RAVEONETTES
THE BLACK RYDER
Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
17/04/08

Australian band The Black Ryder was an obvious choice of support act, with six musicians filling the room with a dense noise that at times pointed in the direction of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It’s also safe to assume that they have listened to more than the occasional Velvet Underground song in their time.

On the dot of 11pm, The Raveonettes - all cheekbones and ice-cool poise - took to the stage and unleashed their intriguing combination of guitar fuzz and surf rock to a sold-out venue. Dressed all in black, Sune looked handsome in a button-up shirt and skinny jeans, while Sharin was the picture of elegance in a beautiful dress as she pressed pedals in high heels. In contrast to the support act, the stage set-up was minimal. Sharin, once the bassist, played guitar, as did Sune, as their sound was embellished by nothing more than a standing drummer with a simple kit and a few samples at his disposal.

Such a dynamic was perfect to showcase the stripped back nature of tracks from their new record, Lust Lust Lust, of which Dead Sound and Aly, Walk With Me were especially drenched in atmosphere. But despite the current album being their strongest to date, the Danes’ older songs were generally more pleasing. The likes of That Great Love Sound from Chain Gang of Love and Attack Of The Ghost Riders from their first long-player have clearly benefited from years of being played live.However, the set did unquestionably suffer slightly from a lack of variety. While there were no lulls to speak of, there were no genuine standout moments either. Even taking into account the stirring You Want The Candy and Let’s Rave On, the cadence and tone rarely changed throughout the hour-long performance. While it may have damaged the ambience that had been so carefully crafted, it would have been pleasing if they had punctuated the set with some more shimmering doo wop and maybe a couple more tracks from their riotous debut album, Whip It On. Also, the beautiful Uncertain Times was a disappointing absence.

Still, these are minor grumbles. After all, they were here to promote their new record rather than to extensively revisit their back-catalogue, and the dizzyingly intense atmosphere was captivating enough to paper over any cracks in the set-list.