(Courtesy of Fierce Panda Records.)The name of the group is The “Rave-on”-ettes. However, though it’s possible that some of these songs may cause you to edge toward the dance floor, the tunes on Lust, Lust, Lust don’t remind me of rave; they remind me of shoegaze.
To give you a quick crash course in musical history, shoegaze was a scene that began in the late 80’s, carried over into the early 90’s, and included bands like Ride, The Verve, and My Bloody Valentine. Essentially, the key ingredient for any successful shoegaze band was enough white noise and guitar feedback to bury the vocal track (which was treated more so as its own instrument than as a vehicle for lyrics). At its best, shoegaze can be a brilliant tidal wave of avant-garde psychedelia (see My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless”), but at its worst, it’s a bunch of kids dicking around on their amps to commit the worst lyrical atrocities heard outside of a Good Charlotte song (see Ride’s “Nowhere”). Lust, Lust, Lust falls somewhere in between.
In one sense, I feel like it’s a candidate for album of the year. “Dead Sound”, “You Want the Candy” and “Aly, Walk With Me” are some of the best songs I’ve heard from 2008 so far. The bass line on “Aly” is amazing, anchoring the song, propelling it forward and evoking a menacing atmosphere all at once. The album is also impeccably sequenced, using the monotone vocals and visceral guitar attacks as bridges from one song to the next. But the fact of the matter is, Lust, Lust, Lust already exists and has for the past twenty-three years: its real name is Psychocandy, and the band that recorded it was The Jesus and Mary Chain.
As good as this Raveonettes album is, it’s difficult not to acknowledge the fact that they basically took The Jesus and Mary Chain’s groundbreaking debut album and used it as the sole blueprint for this record. It’s hard not to believe they ripped off “Some Candy Talking” when I’m listening to “I Want The Candy”. It’s also hard not to hear “Blitzed” as anything other than a poor man’s “The Living End”. And it’s even harder to pretend that one of the greatest debut albums of the 80’s never existed.
But ultimately, that’s the only serious knock against this album. The Raveonettes recognize that their strength lies in their melodies and therefore, don’t obscure them with feedback as much as The Velvet Underground or My Bloody Valentine did, which I take as a positive. It’s also very impressive that other than Sharin Foo’s vocals, everything you hear on this album – be it drums, bass or guitar – was all performed by one guy, Sune Rose Wagner.
So while there’s the niggling matter that this band owes as much to The Jesus and Mary Chain as Airbourne does to AC/DC, Lust, Lust, Lust has got one thing right: I want the candy, psycho or not.
To give you a quick crash course in musical history, shoegaze was a scene that began in the late 80’s, carried over into the early 90’s, and included bands like Ride, The Verve, and My Bloody Valentine. Essentially, the key ingredient for any successful shoegaze band was enough white noise and guitar feedback to bury the vocal track (which was treated more so as its own instrument than as a vehicle for lyrics). At its best, shoegaze can be a brilliant tidal wave of avant-garde psychedelia (see My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless”), but at its worst, it’s a bunch of kids dicking around on their amps to commit the worst lyrical atrocities heard outside of a Good Charlotte song (see Ride’s “Nowhere”). Lust, Lust, Lust falls somewhere in between.
In one sense, I feel like it’s a candidate for album of the year. “Dead Sound”, “You Want the Candy” and “Aly, Walk With Me” are some of the best songs I’ve heard from 2008 so far. The bass line on “Aly” is amazing, anchoring the song, propelling it forward and evoking a menacing atmosphere all at once. The album is also impeccably sequenced, using the monotone vocals and visceral guitar attacks as bridges from one song to the next. But the fact of the matter is, Lust, Lust, Lust already exists and has for the past twenty-three years: its real name is Psychocandy, and the band that recorded it was The Jesus and Mary Chain.
As good as this Raveonettes album is, it’s difficult not to acknowledge the fact that they basically took The Jesus and Mary Chain’s groundbreaking debut album and used it as the sole blueprint for this record. It’s hard not to believe they ripped off “Some Candy Talking” when I’m listening to “I Want The Candy”. It’s also hard not to hear “Blitzed” as anything other than a poor man’s “The Living End”. And it’s even harder to pretend that one of the greatest debut albums of the 80’s never existed.
But ultimately, that’s the only serious knock against this album. The Raveonettes recognize that their strength lies in their melodies and therefore, don’t obscure them with feedback as much as The Velvet Underground or My Bloody Valentine did, which I take as a positive. It’s also very impressive that other than Sharin Foo’s vocals, everything you hear on this album – be it drums, bass or guitar – was all performed by one guy, Sune Rose Wagner.
So while there’s the niggling matter that this band owes as much to The Jesus and Mary Chain as Airbourne does to AC/DC, Lust, Lust, Lust has got one thing right: I want the candy, psycho or not.
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