The Raveonettes - 'Chain Gang Of Love' (Columbia)
3/5
By: Toby L
The media be believed, and those most tempestuous of Danes The Raveonettes have fallen foul of late due to a nagging, repetitious temptation to, well, carbon-copy themselves... Lest we forget, that debut, mini-LP of theirs, 'Whip It On' - which indeed boasted of its sole use of three chords across its entire twenty-minute running-time; 'arrogance', it seems, doesn't quite do their quest justice.
So no time more opportune than the arrival of their debut, full-length LP of theirs 'Chain Gang Of Love' to straighten the record, to belittle expectations, and to claim the fuzz-rock crown...
But, oh damn, they've gone and done it again: only, this time, we have thirteen tracks to go by. Favourably, it begins as it should - a blustery, West Coast, low-key 'Remember', and the hammering, tambourine-rattle of 'That Great Love Sound' and 60s, handclaps-aided, beat-pop of 'Noisy Summer', but their charm is one dished out over and over, rather than allowed the breathing-space to extend and - crucially - compel.
So whilst we get covered in big dollops of white noise and chilly feedback, or have our hearts melted with prom-soundtrack ditties such as 'The Love Gang' or 'Let's Rave On', we're left fighting with our ears to unearth the tunes or boisterous belters (remember the first time you heard their incendiary, trademark 'Attack Of The Ghost Riders'? Unmissable - and, tragically, it's a feat not bettered across the entire span of the band's new work).
Sure, teddy-boys and Fonzie-types still with a wardrobe and record-collection set to the tone of yesteryear will salivate - whilst only the most ardently deaf of indie-rock discos would fail to pick up on the stomping-pulse of 'Heartbreak Stroll' or 'Untamed Girls' as prospective floor-fillers - but, for the rest of us, there's a stale, overhanging sense that some fanciful, favourable potential has gone tragically amiss somewhere along the line.
Artists in this article: The Raveonettes
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