Most Popular
-
DISD In the Hole
Teachers get axed and parents fret as Dallas' school leaders scramble to cover a budget hole
-
Polygamy and Me
Seven months have passed since the polygamist raid in Eldorado, but for one mainstream Mormon, the effects linger
-
Beer Is Good
Texas law stifles state's craft brewers
-
How To Piss Off A Member Of Weezer
Brian Bell isn't so hot on comparisons between past Weezer records and the latest
-
DISD's Confederacy of Jerks
Extremely pushy parents—Latino, black and Anglo—must rise up to save DISD from itself
Recent Blog Posts
Wed Nov 19, 9:07 AM
Wed Nov 19, 8:11 AM
Tue Nov 18, 4:49 PM
Tue Nov 18, 4:08 PM
Tue Nov 18, 1:00 PM
Tue Nov 18, 9:00 AM
Wed Nov 19, 8:32 AM
Tue Nov 18, 2:43 PM
Recent Articles
Recent Articles by Zac Crain
Two former music editors weigh in on the future of Trees
Discover a Lovelier You (Ashmont)
Or, why sax player is no longer a viable occupation in rock and roll
Pottery-selling Satan worshipers and chino salesmen meet for fun and pain in the world of Denton's extreme wrestling
Pretty in Black (Columbia)
No related articles found
National Features >
Broward-Palm Beach New Times
Do black voters need to get over their homophobia?
By Bob Norman
Riverfront Times
The American Mustache Institute works to make facial hair hip again.
By Matt Kasper
Village Voice
Welcome to America, freedom fighters. Now go home.
By Elizabeth Dwoskin
Seattle Weekly
How a Seattle man made a killing off the misery of local homeowners.
By Nina Shapiro
The Raveonettes
Pretty in Black (Columbia)
Published on April 21, 2005
On 2003's The Chain Gang of Love, The Raveonettes more or less re-created the Jesus and Mary Chain's discography for people who weren't aware Rhino had already released a JAMC best-of, 21 Singles, a year earlier. William and Jim Reid could have sued The Raveonettes for royalties and the case would have taken just over 33 minutes, the run time of Chain Gang. This time around, however, Danish duo Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo (fun game: guess which one is the girl) made a good record instead of remaking a great one. Their take on Psychocandy and Automatic is pretty much absent on Pretty in Black (save for their approach to a cover of The Angels' girl-group classic "My Boyfriend's Back"), replaced by the lazy, hazy sound of the band moping around "Somewhere in Texas." With the help of a more traditional guitar-bass-drums lineup, Wagner and Foo have created a soundtrack to a film noir set in the West (possibly John Dahl's Red Rock West), the kind of tape that would be playing in the conflicted hero's convertible as he speeds along the badlands away from a dead body and a bunch of questions from the local sheriff. It's a better fit for the group: Foo's thin voice becomes ethereal in that setting, and Wagner's minimalist songs finally echo the '50s B-movie imagery he worked so hard to cultivate on Chain Gang. And they won't have to hire a lawyer, either.