Musical style, like all other trends, is cyclical. When Jesus and Mary Chain broke apart in 1999, their sound faded momentarily with them.
Yet, just two years later, their fuzzy feedback-laden sound was revived by a duo that emerged out of Denmark called the Raveonettes.
The Raveonettes, who will be performing at the Pearl Street Night Club tonight, are touring following the release of their latest album “Raven in the Grave,” which dropped on April 5.
The Danish indie rock duo consists of Sharin Foo who plays the bass and guitar, and Sune Rose Wagner who plays the guitar and an assortment of other small musical toys. Both sing vocals.
While there is peace between the band members now, before recording the album “Raven in the Grave,” the band was on the brink of breaking apart.
Subconsciously, I think that’s why we chose the title,” said Foo in an interview with Saint Louis Today. “We didn’t know if we should continue or not, if we still had something to offer. We were both feeling a bit disconnected with each other and with the band.”
“We had to fight to find a new direction with new ideas,” Foo said. “We had to find a mood and a feeling and a song that would be the centerpiece of the record. We didn’t have specific things we wanted to do except make ourselves be excited about the music.”
Their latest album has been acclaimed as one of their best, featuring heavy guitar lines, strong vocals, and some softer sounds. It also goes beyond the sounds of their 90’s predecessor, Jesus and Mary Chain, and invokes the sounds of Buddy Holly and the Velvet Underground.
“There’s no doubt that Buddy Holly has had an impact on us,” Wagner said in an interview with the Courier Times. “In fact, the [Buddy Holly] song, ‘Rave On,’ was what inspired the first part of our name and the girl groups of the ’60s inspired the ‘ettes’ part of our name. But we’ve also been inspired by groups like the Cramps and the Velvet Underground.”
Opening for the duo will be the San Francisco-based group, Tamaryn.
The group consists of lead singer Tamaryn and her multi-instrumentalist band-mate Rex John Shelverton. The two released their debut album in September, “The Waves.”
In an interview with the Hartford Courant, the singer said she was wasn’t sure who might come to the shows to see them.
“It’s so easy to just be on the Internet and be on a blog, but you don’t know how that ends up affecting individual people,” Tamaryn said on the phone with the Hartford Courant. “It’s cool to see all types of ages and diverse people that are really into the record and know the songs and buy the T-shirts.”
“It’s weird our band is [named after] me, and it’s on the T-shirts and all that awkward stuff,” Tamaryn said. “I don’t want it to be a vanity project. It’s supposed to be something bigger than that. It has a universal feeling. It’s not a way to just get up and talk about myself.”
The two bands have been touring together since late March. The Northampton show will be the second-to-last stop for the bands.
The Pearl Street show will begin at 8:30 p.m., and tickets will be available at the door for $20.
Michelle Williams can be reached at [email protected].
