In and Out of Control

I love the sound of The Raveonettes, a Danish rock duo. I have just exhaustively listened to their 2009 album, In and Out of Control, and exult in being surrounded by the lushness of their sound, which combines the power-pop of 60s' Phil Spector with a kind of art-rock experimentalism of groups like The Velvet Underground.

One thing I really didn't catch while listening to it in the car, though, was what the lyrics were about. Most of the songs are up-tempo, but the subject matters are mostly dark and downright sinister. Some of the songs are obvious in this regard, such as "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)," a peppy number that comes down squarely on not giving rapists much of a second chance. But other songs that I thought were innocuous, like the sublime "Last Dance," is actually about a woman singing to her mate, who is a drug addict: "Everytime you overdose/I rush you to intensive care/Another sad-eyed stare/Before you disappear."

Some this gets heavy-handed, and the lyrics appear to have been endorsed by a civic group, such as "Suicide," an anti-suicide plea, and "D.R.U.G.S.," which closes with: "You're off your head, you look like a corpse/Milk-white face like the saddest moon." The song "Break Up Girls!" deals with domestic violence, but I find to be relevant and not patronizing: "Bunny Girls slapped found/You like boys to control you/Hit me please me strike me again/Sadistic girls I don't get you."

The Raveonettes are Sune Rose Wagner on lead guitar and Sharin Foo on bass. They have wonderful harmonies together, and Wagner's guitar, when utilizing extra reverb, makes some songs sound really cool, especially "Heart of Stone" and "Breaking Into Cars." But the best song on the album is the opener, the absolutely infectious "Bang," which has a more hopeful refrain of "Kids want to bop/Out in the street/Fu-fu-fun/All summer long."