The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner and
Sharin Foo talk about their ambient-rock evolution
on Raven in the Grave, strategies for
avoiding pattern-based songwriting, and how
multiple reverb pedals can create a harmonically
raging wall of sound.
BY DAN GOLDSTEIN
PHOTOS BY DAVEY WILSON
Raveonettes frontman/guitarist Sune Rose Wagner wants to seduce you, lure you in, lull you into a false sense of pop-melodic security so strong that you don’t notice the darkness until
it’s too late. And that’s been the MO for him and his Raveonettes
counterpart, singer/bassist Sharin Foo, from their acclaimed 2002
debut, Whip It On all the way to this year’s Raven in the Grave.
“It’s like when you meet new people,” Wagner explains,
“You see them from the outside and you have a certain
notion of what they’re about, but you don’t really know what
lurks behind there. Sometimes it’s nice to make music that’s
incredibly appealing and almost sweet and very innocent
sounding, but then when you read the words you figure out
that this has nothing to do with innocence.”
Wagner’s sinister slyness may be the perfect description of the
Raveonettes and what makes their unique brand of atmospheric,
melodic indie rock so consistently appealing. It’s an artful blend
of pop hooks, effect-laden walls of sound à la Phil Spector, and
dark-side-of-the-street lyrics that could easily have come from
the mind of David Lynch, Rimbaud, or… well, Phil Spector.
But, in fact, it all came from Denmark.
