The Raveonettes - The Chain Gang of Love

Abandoning the guitar driven noise-rock sound that made the Whip It On EP so enticing, The Raveonettes instead release a vintage garage-rock album more reminiscent of what The Beatles might sound like in 2003 than The Raveonette’s own previous recordings. Much like the apparent 60s rock influence, every single track on Chain Gang of Love is desperately simplified into single-minded melodies that never develop and only on one occasion break the media-friendly three-minute mark. While I do feel misled by the lack of actual “rock” and by the deceiving slogan “This is Whiplash Rock-N-Roll” plastered on the cover in gigantic lettering, this really isn’t a bad album once you familiarize yourself with the goofy gang persona and accompanying lyrics. For example: “Here comes the Love Gang/ two delinquents in love/ yeah, their love just won’t stop,” “The Chain Gang of Love/ wasting my time/ I’m just a prisoner of love,” and “Let’s go down where the hearts are all broken/ fix ‘em all in time.” For a band that’s obsessed with black leather, gangs, nightlife, and sex, it’s kind of counter-intuitive to be even more obsessed with love, right? Well, that is unless your intent is to play out a specific family-friendly image through your music, such as The Ravonette’s “Hollywood-Musical-gang” personality. Sure it’s charismatic, happy, sounds excellent, and sure it accomplishes the task of stylizing a content-free album, but just beware of what it isn’t: it isn’t “Rock,” it isn’t “Roll,” and it sure as hell isn’t “Whiplash.” Surely a considerable change from the previous Raveonette’s sound, this album indulges in short, simple, old-fashioned tunes about happy gangs falling in love; I enjoy it for what it is, but it still doesn’t feel like enough. [www.theraveonettes.com]