Rocking from two different edges

The Raveonettes
‘Chain Gang Of Love’
(Columbia)

The Raveonettes are garage punkers and their major influence is The Jesus And Mary Chain; they are also art-punkers with a strict code of creativity; they are Danes; its creative core are cool-blonde bassist/vox Sharon Foo and guitarist/singer Sune Rose Wagner. There are 13-songs over 31 minutes. (Their shows are equally succinct.)

Take ingredients as diverse as ‘50s B-movies, the girl group harmonies of the Shangri-Las and The Ronettes, Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, motorbiking escapist imagery, augmented with feedback and a set of strict rules: a) all the songs are recorded in B-flat major; b) no more than three chords are allowed per song; c) each song is under three minutes. From that musical mix emerge sonic jewels such as ‘Noisy Summer’, ‘The Great Love Sound’ and ‘Love Can Destroy’.

The sound of retro-futurism that often rings like The Cramps without the faux-horror content. The perfect soundtrack to a teen-summer, post-‘American Graffiti’ vintage.

8/10

Tour Dates:

23 October – Northumbria University, Newcastle
24 October – Garage, Glasgow
28 October – University, Manchester
29 October – Waterfront, Norwich
30 October – Carling Academy 2, Birmingham
31 October – Leadmill, Sheffield
02 November – Fleece, Bristol
03 November – Concorde 2, Brighton
04 November – Mean Fiddler, London
*

Adema
‘Unstable’
(Arista)

What happened to nu-metal? Hasn’t it become stale before time? Adema, late-comers to the HM’s noisy branch, have managed to surpass the limitations of the genre and have made an album that doesn’t rely on intensity, crucial teen-issues and power-chording to get to the musical point. ‘Unstable’, despite its title, is a very stable, solid album.

It still uses big riffs, bass guitar from the subterranean depths and vocals that drop to the level of menacing but there is so much melody over this noise-fair. Opener ‘Co-Dependent’ somewhat bridges the gap to the 2001’s self-titled debut but it is later songs that display the harder and heavier songs… There are superb emo-moments, ‘Promises’, ‘Be Fortunate’, ‘Do You Hear Me’… This Bakersfield five have certainly opened their hearts and souls!

Led by Jonathan ‘Korn’ Davis’ half-brother, Mark Chevez, ‘Unstable’ sees Adema riffing on their own. Although, a tad too radio-friendly at times.

7/10

Tour dates:

12 September – Cathouse, Glasgow
13 September – Rock City, Nottingham
14 September – Carling Academy 2, Birmingham
15 September – Carling Academy 3, Manchester
16 September – Mean Fiddler, London