The Raveonettes
SXSW Records
Reviewed by Raoul Hernandez, Fri., March 14, 2003
The Raveonettes
Whip It On (Crunchy Frog) Twenty minutes is an eternity. Ample time, certainly, to Whip It On, whip it off, and leave a welt swelling with excitement. Copenhagen's musical Bonnie and Clyde, axe man Sune Rose Wagner and his six-foot blonde bassist/ accomplice Sharin Foo, are going postal faster than an AP bulletin thanks to the murderous rip-time twang of shoot 'em ups like "Cops on Our Tail" ("fuck you ... fuck you ... fuck you ..."). Like the seven other suspects captured on this 20-minute Valentine's Day Massacre, "Cops" is bound and gagged by the EP's m.o.: all B-flat minor tunings, three chords in three minutes, and no high hats outgunning the drum machine. No overdubs, either, only a Sonic Youth sneer, VU drone, and the Jesus & Mary Chain fuzz-tone shackling. The screeching kerrang of opener "Attack of the Ghost Riders" gives chase like the Nazgul bearing down on a Hobbit, while the Harley charge of "Do You Believe Her" distorts more than the truth. The monstrous metallic swagger of a lurching "Bowels of the Beast" meets its match only in the tambourine thrash of "Beat City" ("I wanna die in a beat city") and the monochromatic vocal intonations of stone-cold killers Wagner and Foo. Post the reward and take them alive. (Venue, Thursday, March 13, 11pm)
