The Raveonettes

The Raveonettes

The Raveonettes are a Danish rock and roll duo consisting of Sune Rose Wagner (on guitar, instruments, vocals) and Sharin Foo (on bass, guitar and vocals). Their music is characterized by close two-part vocal harmonies inspired by The Everly Brothers, coupled with hard-edged electric guitar overlaid with liberal doses of noise. Their songs juxtapose the structural and chordal simplicity of 50s and 60s rock with intense electric instrumentation, driving beats and often dark lyrical content, similar to another of the band's influences, The Velvet Underground. "We are not scared of being blunt about what the references are in our music," said Sharin Foo. "For instance, if you look at our name, The Raveonettes, it's a complete direct reference to The Ronettes and Buddy Holly "Rave On". So, in that sense, we're pretty clear about it."

Biography

The duo met in Copenhagen and, after forming the band, began recording Whip It On at Once Was & Sauna Recording Studio, a former Sony Studios facility. They booked the studio for three weeks during non-session down time late in 2001 and handled all production chores by themselves. Adding guitarist Manoj Ramdas and jazz drummer Jakob Hoyer, the Raveonettes booked one of their first gigs at the SPOT festival in Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark. After the release of "Whip it on" Hoyer and Ramdas would contribute to the next 3 Raveonettes albums along with other additional musicians although by the time "Lust Lust Lust" was released Sune and Sharin would be the only two musicians credited showing a return to the dynamic around the time of the mini album.

Officially the band was discovered by Rolling Stone editor David Fricke at the SPOT festival and his rave review of them immediately resulted in a number of offers from the major labels. Unofficially the band discovered that David Fricke would be present at the SPOT festival, and they rushed a band together and headed for the festival.

Whip It On (in which every song was under three minutes and in the key of B-flat minor) was named "Best Rock Album of the Year" at the Danish Music Awards (Denmark's Grammy equivalent) on March 1, 2003 while the Raveonettes were picked by Rolling Stone and Q Magazine as being among the harbingers of the "Next Wave" of contemporary music.

In 2006 Blender named Sharin Foo one of rock's hottest women, alongside Courtney Love, Joan Jett, and Liz Phair.

Chain Gang of Love

The band's first full-length album, Chain Gang of Love (in which all but two songs were under three minutes, and all were in the key of B flat major), was produced by the legendary Richard Gottehrer — the author of rock classics like "My Boyfriend's Back" and "I Want Candy" as well as the producer for hit albums by Blondie, the Go-Go's, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, and many more — and the Raveonettes' own Sune Rose Wagner. The album was recorded in Denmark and New York on October 9-17, November 6-12, and December 4-10, 2002 and mixed in London in early 2003. The thirteen songs on Chain Gang of Love are written by Sune Rose Wagner with the exception of "That Great Love Sound", which Sune co-wrote with Gottehrer. Portions of this song were featured in a US ad for K-Mart. The album has often been compared to Psychocandy, the debut album by The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Pretty in Black

The band's album Pretty in Black broadened their musical palette, featuring guest vocals from Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes as well as guest instrumental spots from Maureen Tucker (of The Velvet Underground) and Martin Rev. This was their first album in which Sharin Foo did not play bass, instead The Raveonettes added bass player Anders Christensen who had toured with seminal jazz drummer Paul Motion, amongst others. Christensen recorded on the album and now tours with the band. At the end of the 2005 tour, guitar player Manoj Ramdas left the band to concentrate on his new band SPEKTR.

The video for the single "Love in a Trashcan", directed by Peder Pedersen, features pink bars and blocks with words like "Vamp" and "Teaser" scrawling by the band members, and is reminiscent of an early-1960s cosmetic ad.

Instrumentation

While live the band use mainly Fender instruments (Sune uses a number of Jazzmasters while Sharin opts for either Mustang or Jazz bass, and a Jazzmaster), Sune plays a number of different guitars and basses on their albums, including different Fenders, Gibsons and Gretsches. In the fall of 2005, the tour van containing the band's equipment (including Sune's prized 1960 Jazzmaster and Sharin's treasured Gretsch 6120) was stolen during their tour of the US.

The band have a some line up changes over each record which are as follows

Whip It On Sharin Foo Sune Rose Wagner (Specific instruments not known)

Chain Gang Of Love Sune Rose Wagner: Guitars and Vocals Sharin Foo: Basses and Vocal Manoj Ramdas: Guitars Jakob HOyer: Drums

Pretty In Black Sune Rose Wagner,Guitars/Vocals/Synth,Percussion/Drums/Bass/Programming Sharin Foo: Vocals,Percussion Jakob Hoyer: Drums,Percussion Anders Christiensen: Bass,Percussion,Organ Manoj Ramdas: Guitar

Lust Lust Lust Sune Rose Wagner Sharin Foo (Specific instruments not known)

Discography

Studio albums

• Whip It On (2002)
• Chain Gang of Love (2003)
• Pretty in Black (2005)
• Lust Lust Lust (2007)

Singles

• 2002 "Attack of the Ghostriders" #73 UK
• 2003 "That Great Love Sound" #34 UK
• 2003 "Heartbreak Stroll" #49 UK
• 2004 "That Great Love Sound" (Re-issue) #52 UK
• 2005 "Ode to LA" (10" only)
• 2005 "Love in a Trashcan" #26 UK
• 2007 "Dead Sound" (7" Only)
• 2008 "You Want The Candy" #15 UK Indie (7" Only)

Soundtracks

• Stubbs the Zombie: The Soundtrack (2005) song: "My Boyfriend's Back" (The Angels cover)

References

• Errico, Mike (December 2006). "Hottest Women of. . .Rock". Blender Magazine Online. Retrieved 2007-02-09.

Video: Raveonettes "Dead Sound" live at The Current/Free Yr Radio SXSW 2008 broadcast

Interviews

• Interview with Sune Rose Wagner at www.bmoretunes.com
• The Scenestar - May 2007
• Interview with Raveonettes' Sharin Foo at No Ripcord
• Psycho Interview at Brightest Young Things
• Interview with Sune Rose Wagner at Blast
• Interview with Sharin Foo by Rob Townsend
• Exclusive Interview @ R*E*P*E*A*T Online

External links

• The Raveonettes' website
• The Raveonettes' entry at Trouser Press
• The Raveonettes' entry at Allmusic
• Hollywood Reporter Concert Review