Raveonettes, Black Angels Bring The Noise

Phoenix Concert Theatre

Toronto

on Oct 22 2009

Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

10/23/2009 12:58pm

Austin, Texas psych rock band The Black Angels were a good match for The Raveonettes on this North American tour, as both groups revel in using lots of reverb and feedback.

But while The Raveonettes surround those aspects with melodies and harmonies to create great, compact pop tunes, The Black Angels songs usually tend to drone on a bit too long for my liking in performance. However, a friend at the show who admitted to being very stoned said he loved that the group took things a couple of minutes past my comfort level, so I guess it's up to the individual's taste (and amount of marijuana smoked).

The Black Angels sometimes used three guitars, but lead singer Alex Maas occasionally switched to keyboards. And in one particularly percussive song, he shook maracas while one of the other guitarists beat on a drum. They played "Black Grease" from 2006's Passover debut album and then said they were going to perform a couple of new songs — one of which was more melodic and featured more vocal interplay to take things in a more pop direction than their earlier material.

It was difficult to make out the lyrics to Black Angels songs, at least from where I was standing near the back of the Phoenix, but the band are more about texture and feel anyway. That came across much better when I saw them three years ago with Pink Mountaintops in the smaller confines of the Horseshoe Tavern, where you could almost feel the music as well as hear it.

I moved closer to the stage for The Raveonettes and, no, it wasn't just to get a better look at statuesque singer/guitarist Sharin Foo. I've seen the Danish band four times before, but this was the largest venue I'd witnessed them in, so I wanted a perch that could provide a bit of intimacy but also give me elbow room to take notes.

Sune Rose Wagner shares vocal and guitar duties with Foo, and they were joined on stage by a stand-up drummer (wearing a Black Angels T-shirt) and bassist for their hour-long set. Things kicked into high gear for me when The Raveonettes went back to their 2002 debut EP, Whip It On, for "Veronica Fever." "Lust" from last year's Lust Lust Lust followed and was calmer, but there were still sharp edges in the dual guitars.

The guitars produced a keyboard-like sound on "Blush" and the crowd clapped along on "Dead Sound," which was the highlight to that point. There was no guitar at all for the first part of "Break Up Girls!" as both Wagner and Foo banged tambourines, but then they both strapped on their axes and strobe lights flashed violently amidst a wash of noisy guitars to end the song.

"Red Tan" started off a bit jerky, but evolved into a beautiful reverb-drenched '60s-style pop song.

Foo and the drummer switched instruments for "The Beat Dies," and I wasn't sure if the lower mix on her voice was intentional or not. She remained behind the minimal drum kit as Wagner sang "Heart Of Stone."

Wagner sang and played by himself during "Little Animal," and it worked very well. Foo did likewise for "Oh, I Buried You Today," but it wasn't as effective.

Things bounced back in a big way with a brilliant version of Pretty In Black standout "Love In A Trashcan," which elicited more dancing from the folks who'd packed the club pretty full. They followed that with "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)" and "Suicide" from the newly released In And Out Of Control. There was tons of guitar noise in the set's closing number, Lust Lust Lust single "Aly, Walk With Me."

In And Out Of Control lead single/video "Last Dance," which bears a resemblance to a Lush song, opened the encore. It was followed by "Experiment In Black" and then the crowd was whipped into a frenzy with the closer, Chain Gang Of Love's "That Great Love Sound." It's an irresistible song and was an excellent choice to end with, as everybody left the venue on a major high (and not just from the skunk weed fumes that had wafted by earlier).

Any band that combines elements of Buddy Holly, The Ronettes, The Jesus And Mary Chain and The Velvet Underground is always going to be alright in my books, and The Raveonettes definitely are. And while this may have been my least favourite time that I've seen them, since I remain a bigger fan of the first three records, it still stood well above most performances I've seen this year.

To view a photo gallery of The Raveonettes, click HERE.