Ever wondered what a Dogme road movie would sound like?

listen to interview with the raveonettes

“We sound like a big melting pot of everything we always thought was really great,” says Sune Rose Wagner, singer/songwriter of The Raveonettes. “Everything from Buddy Holly to Suicide, to film noir and Alfred Hitchcock.”

“It’s like a homage to all the great movies and all the great literature and music that we’re inspired by,” agrees Sharin Foo who plays bass and matches Sune’s hushed vocal delivery note for note, creating a compelling hypnotic drone. “I guess it was from being influenced by the Everly Brothers,” says Sune of their deadpan joint vocal style.

Whip It On, their debut mini-album, is a timeless mix of sleazy pop, garage rock that doesn’t shy away from the current fashion for dark themes and trashy lo-fi production. What makes it unusual, though, is that it’s recorded, as the album cover proclaims, entirely “in glorious B-flat minor”.

“I guess it was being influenced by the Dogme movement that came out of Denmark at the time,” explains Sune. “People set up rules for making movies, so we set up rules for making music. We did all the songs with the same three chords, using the same key. We didn’t use any hi-hat or ride cymbal and all the songs had to be really short, like two or three minutes.” As a result, the eight-track record weighs in at just 28 sinister minutes.

The work of Beat generation authors like Jack Kerouac (On The Road) also had its impact. “We took a lot of elements from there - all the spontaneous writing - and we don’t go back and revise,” he says. “Once the lyrics are written that’s it. And the same thing with the music really.”

Imposing such limitations upon a record could have had disastrously bland results. However The Raveonettes have pulled it off. By keeping it short and sweet, the format is not exhausted and their distinctive style makes for interesting listening. And they already have the next, full-length album in the can, due to be released later in the year. Recorded in the fabulous F-sharp major perhaps? Watch this space… Matt Walton 23 January 03

Whip It On, available now on Columbia.

useful link: www.theraveonettes.com