The Raveonettes

Pretty in Black

January 17, 2008

By Mr. Marlowe

** 1/2 / ****

Released 2005

Eclectic fuzz rock duo The Raveonettes go full out ‘60s girl group with a splash of country on their third effort, Pretty in Black. A major departure from their previous artistic efforts, which merged the detached sonic assault of classic shoe gazers with the lonesome, warmly dramatic balladry of Phil Spector’s most famous all female outfits, Pretty in Black is a lethargic affair that shows a band on the path of indecision.

Where their former albums followed strict rules (all songs in a certain key, under a certain length, etc.) Pretty in Black seems to be their attempt at stretching their sound without taking the necessary chances to really push the boundaries. Stripped of the brutal sonic assault that was Chain Gang of Love, Pretty in Black flops around like a fish out of water, desperately gasping for air that is quickly floating away.

Black is classicist in its approach, with strict adherence paid to Spector and country rock clichés. After a few listens, however, a bigger truth becomes obvious: Pretty in Black is almost completely drained of the curious flourishes of the strange that made their previous masterpiece, Chain Gang of Love, such a hugely successful album. The evidence to this conclusion is most obvious with My Boyfriend’s Back, a cover of The Angel’s 1963 classic. Plopped down right in the middle of the album, the song and its place in the record seem an extremely curious decision. The Raveonettes are clearly influenced by the girl group sound, but why merely cover an already perfect tune in an ordinary way rather than crush our preconceived notions of the girl group template with unexpected embellishments? The Raveonettes are much better than this and it is disappointing to see them pull old tunes out of mothballs and wear them as is, especially when we know they have the creativity to turn those mothball relics into gloriously unpredictable butterflies. When aping old ‘60s standards as plainly as possible is the modus operandi at work, it makes for a very lackluster and boring affair.

The highlights of Pretty in Black, which are few and never as triumphant as on Chain Gang of Love, include Red Tan and Somewhere and Texas, cinematically tinged masterstrokes that could have, with a bit more feedback, been excellent B-sides on Chain Gang of Love, Ode to L.A., the bands most straightforward girl group ballad ever, and Sleepwalking, a song whose title perfectly sums up the album as a whole. Unfortunately, even this last “hit” doesn’t soar so much as it merely breaks the monotony of the rest of the album’s clunkers. And when breaking the monotony is the best a band can accomplish on an album, you know it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

Pretty in Black isn’t a terrible album by any means, but it is a steep drop in quality and inspiration after a full-blown masterpiece in Chain Gang of Love. There is more to The Raveonettes than this album hints, and if this is all you ever hear of the band you are definitely missing out.

Best Songs: Red Tan, Somewhere in Texas, Ode to L.A., Sleepwalking