Those echoing guitars, those dreamy vocals - it can only be Danish duo The Raveonettes. It seems like only yesterday when I enthused about their previous release "Lust Lust Lust" and now they give us more of the same.
Sounding like they have overdosed on the combined creative powers of Shadow Morton and Richard Gottehrer, Sharin Foo and Sune Rose Wagner take their decidedly retro ShangriLas meets Blondie sound and wrap it around some pretty damn clever songs. Of course, half the fun of listening to an album like this is figuring where they have cheekily lifted bits from musical history (the drums on "Suicide", the guitar riff in "Bang!" and the keyboards on "D.R.U.G.S" are examples of the power of resurrection). I'm not complaining though as such an approach lightens the sometimes bleak lyrics and sugar coats the controversial (I can't see "Boys Who Rape" making the playlist on mainstream American radio for example) That's also the best thing about this band in sonic terms - that reverb and massive injection of noise provide a fine counterpoint to Ms Foo's sweeter than honey vocals.
While this album doesn't break any new ground for the band, there is still much to commend here which is another way of saying that they haven't let the quality drop. They might even get a few more fans with this one too.