Eric Saeger
It’s not enough simply to let off wall-of-sound grease-fires over pretty 1960s pop songs – anybody can do that. But after listening to Lust Lust Lust with an open – okay, reverent – mind, one could argue that Dutch coed duo Raveonettes have created something not just important but essential… wait, don’t get like that. The cherubic, low-pegged vocal lines of “Hallucinations” and “With My Eyes Closed” conjure clear images of a far-off surfer on the last day of summer vacation; songs like these could be woven into an Everly Brothers best-of without anyone being the wiser, save for the parts where a coked-out Tasmanian devil handles the lead guitar’s volume knob. With that alone, you could stop and get all Baboon Dooley indie-wonk about it: “Ah. The Raveonettes have provided incontrovertible proof that there’s a wondering pre-teen in all of us awaiting a merciful let-up in all the super-loud poli-social clamor and Corona ads.” But you haven’t heard “Dead Sound” yet, and this you must, must do.
