Album Review: The Raveonettes - Observator

The Raveonettes
Observator
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

The Danish duo The Raveonettes have always been a gimmicky band, starting their career off with a fuzzy, Jesus & Mary Chain feedback laden style, married to 50s and 60s style harmonies. They even used to set rigid parameters on their recordings, choosing to stick to recording their first album all in B-flat minor, limited to three chords, and three minute lengths. Eventually they lightened up on the recording rules and embraced a fuller sound, employing more traditional songwriting, and even dipping into shoegaze and dream-pop textures. What has been frustrating about the duo is that they always put out good/not great records that just don't seem to have a lot of distinctive personality. You can get any of their records and be content with it. Last year's Raven In The Grave, disliked by many, was the first album for me that showed them being a little more willing to go outside their comfort zone. While it was not a complete success, it was definitely more memorable for that approach. New record Observator sort of refines that approach and comes up with a far more consistent set of tracks, but still hasn't set out a distinctive sound for them.

The first two tracks hint at a new approach, subtly incorporating some interesting piano notes. "Young and Cold" drifts on fuzzy guitar lines and deep harmonies from Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo, recalling their early Everly Brothers-esque leanings, but adds some delicate piano lines to the mix, and faces out on a haunting coda.



"Observations" brings the pianos to the forefront, with only slight trails of reverbed guitars, as Wagner and Foo's breathy vocals take over the mix.



This apparently was a bait and switch as the piano based tracks pretty much fade from memory and the rest of the album sort of ping pongs between more aggressively feedback heavy tracks and more shoegazey/jangly textures. "Sinking With The Sun" pushes along on a haze, while the fuzzy, poppy "Downtown" is a perfect pop confection,



and closer "Till The End" opens with a fog of angelic guitars before scuzzing things up for the remainder.



Of course, I am more partial to their dreamier, shoegaze inspired tracks. Standout for me is the gorgeous "Curse The Night" with a delicious backbeat and melancholy guitar leads, as Foo's voice hovers over the track like a lonely soul.



"The Enemy" features some lovely guitar work, directing the song into dream pop territory.



While tracks like "You Hit Me(I'm Down)" and "She Owns The Streets" soften things with airy, blissed out guitars and muted vocals.



Observator is a well crafted record whose only real fault is that it is almost too pleasant. While there are some edgier tracks, there is an abundance of more ethereal textures at play. And it still has an air of a band trying to push their sound in some new directions but afraid to go too far out from what is known. As it stands, it is a lovely pop record that just stands too much in the middle of the pack.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.