Combining the noisy swells of
the Jesus and Mary Chain with melodic elements of '50s rock & roll,
the Raveonettes formed in Copenhagen during the early 2000s. Guitarist
Sune Rose Wagner had tried assembling a band for several years, traveling between New York City, Las Vegas, Hollywood, and an island outside of Seattle in his search for like-minded musicians. A longtime fan of
Bob Dylan, he also prized the songwriting of
Buddy Holly, the harmonies of
the Everly Brothers, and the guitar work of
Mark Knopfler, although it was the lovely dissonance of
Sonic Youth and
the Jesus and Mary Chain that ultimately motivated
Wagner to pursue music professionally. Alas, his stay in America didn't exactly pan out, and
Wagner returned to Denmark, where he connected with bassist/vocalist
Sharin Foo. A fan of
the Beatles and
the Velvet Underground,
Foo had also studied qawwali and Hindustani classical music during a six-month stay abroad. She had also spent some time performing in Copenhagen's local venues.
Once formed,
the Raveonettes created a set of rules that governed the creation of their first album. The project would be recorded entirely in B-flat minor, surrounded by only three chords, and each song had to be less than three minutes long. Ride cymbals were not allowed, either. What resulted from those unconventional specifications was a fuzzy, dark, cinematic set of songs entitled
Whip It On, which fused classic garage rumblings with frenzied electronic bits.
Whip It On was released in Europe in summer 2002 courtesy of Crunchy Frog; one month later,
the Raveonettes waltzed into N.Y.C.'s CBGB for an American introduction. Producer
Richard Gottehrer (
Blondie,
Joan Armatrading,
the Go-Go's) caught the performance and enlisted as the producer for the group's next album. A deal with Columbia Records followed before the year's end, positioning
the Raveonettes as Copenhagen's most promising export.
The Chain Gang of Love appeared in September 2003. The first single from the album, "That Great Love Sound," became a minor hit, due in part to a creepy video featuring
Foo and
Wagner dreaming up ways to kill each other. Sessions for their next album began in late 2004, and
Wagner cast aside all songwriting and recording rules (as well as guitar distortion) in favor of classic songcraft and lots of rich, lush reverb. The resulting album, 2005's
Pretty in Black, featured guest spots from
Suicide's
Martin Rev,
Ronnie Spector, and
the Velvet Underground's
Moe Tucker. In early 2008, the band returned to a minimalist sound with
Lust Lust Lust, followed one year later by
In and Out of Control. The band's fifth studio album, Raven in the Grave, featured the single "Forget That You're Young" and was released in April of 2011. The following year, the band rang in their 10th anniversary together with the release of their sixth album, Observator.
–
MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi